


Aelfdene's Adventures in the Modern World

by Raincloudpaw



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Adventure, Aelfdene is not okay, Aelfdene is overpowered, Because this is for school, But also serious, Character Development, Comedy, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Magic School, Modern world, NO Swearing, No Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overpowered, Prologue is the shortest chapter, Ship who ever you want, The next chapters are above one thousand words, but like that's only because of Aelfdene's past, but that's fine, idk how to tag, it'll happen, second work, updates weekly, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-10-24 11:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 28,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raincloudpaw/pseuds/Raincloudpaw
Summary: Aelfdene wasn't a normal person. He's an immortal, one of the 'Ancient Immortals'. He was known as the judge.Several hundred years later, Aelfdene comes out of hiding to check out the outside world.Come to find out about Aelfdene's journey to finding himself, and living in this new life.Or:"Why did I agree to this again?""Because you're dumb, Aelfdene.""Oh, right."Author's Note:Usually updates weekly, but as this is for school updates will be sporadic. I may miss a week.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to a story I hopefully won't abandon.
> 
> The prologue is the shortest chapter.

Aelfdene sighed. It had been a long day, doing absolutely nothing. It was hard, being lazy and attempting to ignore everything. He didn't understand why everyone was so insistent to try and talk to him, after all, he would just completely ignore them anyways. But now that was wrong. It had been a while since they last sent him a letter. A couple of hundred of years, he supposed. But it didn't matter. Aelfdene was used to it.

He had not seen the outside world in a couple of centuries; perhaps they had given up and tried to contact him in a different way? After all, he was immortal. Hopefully, they forgot him. Even if they did remember him, Aelfdene thought none of it. He was prepared. He was ready. For the first time in about a couple centuries, he was going out into the outside world. Aelfdene breathed in deeply.

And gently opened the door.

A bright flash of colors met him, and he was suddenly assaulted with memories; everything that had happened so far. Mortals were advancing in magic. They still treated immortals as if they heavenly beings, and the newer immortals always had their better-than-you attitudes. Of course, the mortals that turned immortal were still as polite as ever. Only those who were born as immortals ever acted as arrogant as that. At least, most of the time. He sighed to himself. Couldn't they keep this overview more concise? Why did they have to drag it on for so long? At this point, Aelfdene literally knew every IKEA instruction manual by heart. Aelfdene twirled his long, silvery-white hair- a trademark style of his- and sighed again, looking out into the forest. How anticlimactic.

Aelfdene conjured himself a mirror. Gazing back at him were his multi-colored eyes, one lavender, and one molten gold, surrounded by a ring of silver. Aelfdene made small adjustments to his body, trying to seem more average. He changed his height to the average, around 5' 4". He also willed a necklace to appear; the only one that could control his overwhelming power. The silver encased the diamond in its grasp, the gold curling around the silver, and little black diamonds were seen near the huge white diamond. It was breathtaking, but he didn't want it to be seen. He tucked it beneath his shirt. Moving on, he frowned at his eyes. It was something he couldn't change. The reason was that contacts would mess with his magic, disrupting the flow. In fact, the eyes are where the magic usually stayed, and even immortal, Aelfdene did not want to mess with his magic flow. Perhaps- no, it wasn't as if Aelfdene could buy one anyways.

Eye color was usually the main thing that people used to identify immortals. Aelfdene was such an obscure immortal that no one besides the oldest immortals remembered what his appearance was, and even then their memories were fuzzy. He was known as the judge of immortals, striking down those who were unworthy. How poetic. The only things new immortals and mortals knew about him was that he was wearing a cloak, that split apart in the middle, with the right being white and the left being black. That was it. Aelfdene wasn't flashy. He enjoyed doing his job quietly. No witnesses. No one ever noticed the fight until they found the body somewhere. They knew it was his work. They always did. He was now known as some sort of myth; something to keep the new immortals in line.

He moved on to his hair. Hair was a problem. Changing the hair to a shorter length? Easy as pie, and that's why he did. But disguising his hair? It would be fine... but if he used more than 20% of his magic, the color would vanish. And only immortals would disguise their hair. Another problem was that at this age, white was not a natural hair color. Only people who died their hair would have white hair. But no one died their hair. Dying hair would cause the magic to dry and fade, leaving behind less power. That's why haircare was something of high importance. So his white hair, his naturally white hair would quickly be noticed. Of course, using 20% of his magic was quite improbable. Aelfdene, yes, he would admit it, was, erm... what most people called "overpowered". Aelfdene sighed, deciding to take the risk and changed his hair black.

Clothes. He looked down at himself. A black robe, with purple and gold accents, spun around him. His hands were covered in black gloves, a single gold bracelet latched onto his wrist. Black pants that clung to his lower body and black boots completed his current look. He shook his head. It was too flashy. He clapped his hands, and in an instant, his outfit changed. Black jeans, a dark blue hoodie covering a t-shirt, and blue sneakers were on his body instead. Aelfdene smiled.

Better.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More world-building
> 
> Prepare for some more weeks of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early chapter for you guys!
> 
> I had this done already.
> 
> The next one will come out next Monday!

Aelfdene moved onto his next problem. Money. Was his account still there? Would it be able to recognize his magic? Even more importantly, school. Aelfdene had to apply for a school- he didn't have any sort of qualifications for a job. Besides, he already looked fourteen. Aelfdene glanced at his ID and sent an application to transfer there. It wasn’t very hard, and with a small *ding* he had been accepted into 9th grade. With that out of the way, he could worry about money.

But money was something that still mattered, even with immortals. I mean, the president of the country was an immortal, and laws did apply to immortals. Of course, there were criminals. After all, there still were immortals that committed crimes. Aelfdene only dealt with people doing mass murders, or something of that sort. Immortals couldn’t deal with organized crime, on top of… them. Aelfdene didn’t grace the organization with a name. Sure, it was a bit petty, considering how he was  _ enemies _ with the leader. No, they  **were not** rivals. No matter how many times he said so! Aug- no,  **he** was someone Aelfdene loathed. He always knew how to aggravate Aelfdene.

People thought that they were friends? As if. Aelfdene couldn’t stand him. He winced, knowing that  _ he _ must’ve already found out that Aelfdene had left. He always did. Aelfdene pulled out something that certainly looked similar to a smartphone, but it wasn’t a smartphone. It was something that everyone had. It was basically your ID, map, and messenger. Of course, immortals had an option to blend in with mortals, but Aelfdene was planning to blend in with mages. Easy enough, as immortals and mages had a lot in common. While immortals couldn’t change their last names, they could change their first names. Aelfdene was depending on this. Searching for the app, Aelfdene entered his name as “Alex.” Common and simple, right? Something that wouldn’t draw much attention. That was his new identity. Alex Sol. It had a nice ring to it, Aelfdene decided.

Now that it was done, Aelfdene could finally leave for the bank. Then perhaps acquire an apartment. Aelfdene teleported to the sidewalk near the bank. The bank was huge, imposing. Its aura was powerful and intimidating. This wasn’t any normal bank. This was the entrance to the magic city; the place where immortals and the mages slept in this area, shopped and ate. Immortals didn’t work here though, there were magical avatars that did the cleaning and operated the registers. Aelfdene switched to his third form, which wore blue jeans, a black leather jacket on top of a shirt, and black sneakers. Black hair turned to brown, and his facial structure changed yet again. He grew a couple of inches. His hair reached his shoulders. He looked around twenty-one years old. He put in a blue-colored contact, a striking blue, and one violet contact, speckled with silver. He was alright with using contacts in this form, after all, it wasn’t as if he would use magic. First- a name, just in case someone asked who he was. He couldn’t answer Alex, so his other form, this form, would be called Adrian. Adrian Kiran. After all, it was a fake name. Adrian would disappear after this. Aelfdene gathered up his courage and walked inside.

It was akin to walking into the outside world again. Noises and colors were hurled at him, and then he regained his balance. He felt an intense magical power; someone powerful was in the area. Aelfdene shook his head. It was inconsequential. He looked around. It was different, way more modern. Then again, Aelfdene had disappeared for around four centuries. He was finally safe. No one checked IDs here, because immortals monitored this place constantly; no one wanted the wrath of one. He glanced around. A young couple, who were definitely sixteen, judging by the way their aura was.

Oh right, auras. Auras were harder to explain. Auras were something you could see, but only more experienced immortals could see them. They gave off your age, personality, and magic. Only masters of auras could control their aura, and that’s what Aelfdene was doing. He was manipulating his aura to that of a century year old immortal, in the class of light.

And now, inside the bank, he could reactivate his account. Aelfdene pushed a button, and it was done. Money, the first problem, was out of his way. Still, he would have to be careful. Who knows what his fri- erm, acquaintances did to the outside of his hiding place? They probably put a spell on it that would alert them when he left. Aelfdene sighed. Hopefully, they forgot what style his eyes were. “Aelfdene finally left his hidey-hole!” Screeched a young teen, who looked around thirteen to fourteen. He had light blonde hair, his eyes seemed as if you were looking at the sun. Aelfdene froze. Speak of the devil, and he will come. It was Arell. Arell Freyr. That was his full name. Arell specialized in light magic. That was why the air was saturated in magic.

“Really?” Another voice snapped Aelfdene straight out of his thoughts. He had pale blue hair, reaching almost a white. His voice was frosty and gave Aelfdene chills. His face though spoke a different story. His arctic eyes were matched with a kind smile. He and Arell were the best of friends. His name was Nicholas. Nicholas Boreas. His attitude was ice magic.

You see, the oldest immortals had a major specialty. Examples being fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, life, death, and magic. Magic had its own specialty, comprising of teleportation, mana bullets, barriers, lasers, and staffs. Light and life were often confused with each other, but don’t be fooled. Arell, who was often called the Immortal of Light, was dangerous. Aayu Ashvins, the Immortal of Life, could bring people back from death’s door. Death and darkness were twins. Arius and Adria Aita. Arius, Immortal of Death, and Adria, Immortal of Darkness. They were pretty relaxed and fun to be around. Aine Vesta, Immortal of Fire. Dylan Hapi, Immortal of Water. Jax Veles, Immortal of Earth. Rai Vayu, Immortal of Wind. Finally, Asher Heka, Immortal of Magic. Nicholas was the Immortal of Ice. A subclass of water. Amaranth Beira, Immortal of Plants, which was a subclass of earth. Of course, no one actually knew their last names. They kept that private. 

There were only two subclasses, ice, and plants. People were in classes and subclasses, but the original, the immortals just listed, were masters. No one could come close to the control they had. They were also one of the oldest immortals, nicknamed the ‘Ancient Immortals.’ All of these immortals knew Aelfdene, some closer than others. They were close enough that they called him a friend. Aelfdene didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Yup! I confirmed it just now… Are there any new faces here?” Asked Arell, looking around. Aelfdene immediately regained control of his body, and pulled up his device, checking the housing, while walking further away from the duo. Aelfdene found a nice apartment and quickly bought it. He didn’t have to worry about money, because he saved up a lot. The nice thing about living in this day in age was that there was no paperwork. He hadn’t bought anything in around four hundred years, so, yeah. While he was distracted, he felt a hand rest on his shoulders. He turned around, startled. Aelfdene cursed mentally. It was Arell and Nicholas.

“So…” Began Arell, “You’re new here, right?” He asked, cocking his head slightly to the right, his smile a bit too wide, his gaze a predator staring at its prey. His tone contradicted the dark look on his face- it was too happy, too lighthearted.

Aelfdene gulped. He was screwed. Completely, totally, and utterly screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment below anything I should change, compliments, suggestions, or just anything in general!
> 
> Have a great day!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have fun!

But Aelfdene wasn’t about to fall victim so soon. He knew better than to let his mask slip. Aelfdene was an excellent actor. Before he had gone into hiding, he knew he had been off. He knew he needed to rest, lest his view of humanity is shattered to pieces. He had needed to alleviate, or somehow erase his twisted and immoral views on humanity. He was the arbitrator of the world, he was supposed to be fair and moral, but he wasn’t. Aelfdene was unfair and unjust towards mortals. Aelfdene understood how he was being unfair to humanity, to mortals and immortals alike.

In reality though, was he really to blame? Aelfdene often only saw the darkest parts of humanity. The dirty secrets. The horrible, horrible part that they never wanted anyone to see, but Aelfdene did. In doing so, Aefldene’s view had become twisted, but he wasn’t about to confess anything to anyone. He didn’t want to talk about his “feelings.” He wouldn’t ask for help. He refused to; they wouldn’t understand. No matter what, they never did, and so in consequence, Aelfdene… gave up. What else was he supposed to do? They didn’t understand, and would never understand.  **They hadn’t seen what he had seen** .

_ And then it came again. Aelfdene sweating, nearly draining his entire mana pool. It was unheard of- would the judge finally lose? A bright flash appeared, and Aelfdene closed his eyes, ready to take the blow, to accept his fate, when suddenly- _

Aelfdene snapped out from his thoughts. It was no use thinking of his last battle. He had to focus on his mask. He was only out of it for about half a second, though it felt much longer. He could play that off as surprise. Where was he? Right, Arell. Arell… His eyes… He wasn’t disguising himself, at all, considering the envious glances that were shot at him from onlookers. Aelfdene allowed his eyes to widen, his shock apparent. It would look as if he was starstruck to almost everyone. He pitched his voice up, emulating a tone of astoundment and awe before replying, “Y-yeah! It’s an honor to meet you, Immortal of Light!”

Arell chuckled softly, but that  _ look _ wouldn’t fade. “Do you really think I wouldn’t notice,  Aelfdene ? Only you were such an actor.” He responded, his voice dangerously low. Aelfdene could almost mistake him for the Immortal of Darkness, considering how fast he changed from happy-go-lucky to doom.

“What do you mean, an actor? I-I’m not acting! It’s astonishing that you would even bother to talk to me! And while I’m shocked that you would compare me to  _ the judge _ , Aelfdene himself. I mean, I’m not him. My name is Adrian. Adrian Kiran. I’m fairly young, only around a century old.” I nervously replied, hoping that it would be enough to throw Arell off the trail.

Nicholas appeared beside him. “Are you sure it’s him?” He asked Arell, his voice practically dripping suspicion, “He reminds me of some sort of a fanboy.” Aelfdene’s face flushed red from embarrassment, as he wasn’t a fanboy at all. 

Arell looked up at him, his gaze taking over Aelfdene, before cautiously asking, “Kiran? Adrian Kiran? Why don’t I recognize you?”

I stare at him, before thinking of a suitable lie. “I’m just scouting this place out for my nephew. He’s a mage, around fourteen years old. His name’s Alex Sol. He’ll be transferring to the Blueridge Academy of Magic. It’s a highly prestigious school, and Alex was accepted there. We both don’t live here, so you wouldn’t recognize us. We live in a fairly isolated spot.”

“Why doesn’t he just come to live with us?” Came in a new voice from behind Aelfdene. It was Rai Vayu, Immortal of Wind. He had pale skin, and sky blue hair, each movement came out beautifully, sort of how grass danced with the wind on a peaceful summer day.

“I-I couldn’t dream of intruding on your privacy! Besides, I already bought a house…” Aelfdene replied, nervously. “In fact, I was just preparing to leave…”

Rai’s eyes widened, but Aelfdene wasn’t worried. Rai was one of the more polite immortals, who had a sense of space. He was dangerous, in the way that he was scarily intelligent, but Aelfdene was talented at acting. “Alright,” He conceded, “So I’ll meet him when?” He asked.

“Erm, Alex will be coming in later today…” I answered, warily. Rai would only ask that if he was planning something. Rai and Arell were a dangerous team, considering that they both were manipulative and cunning.

“Oh really? Alright. Goodbye, then.” Rai waved him a goodbye gesture.

“G-Goodbye!” Replied Aelfdene, speed walking away from the scene as fast as he could, while still seeming polite. He practically ran outside, and after checking a secluded corner to make sure no one was there, shifted back into the “Alex” form. Black jeans, a dark blue hoodie covering a t-shirt, blue sneakers, shorter black hair, a different facial structure, he took out the contacts, and was about a couple inches shorter. He walked to a nearby park, collapsing against a nearby tree.

The shade was nice, and it was a cool autumn day. School had been in for around three weeks, so Aelfdene would have to transfer in. It was September 14th, on a Saturday. There were children, immortals, mages and mortals alike, playing together; they were still young and innocent, naive to how the mortal children would be seen as less than. Some of them were practicing their magic, some showing an aptitude for fire, others for water, and so on. The mortal children would watch on, excited, and the mages and immortal children would smile in exhilaration, happily complying with their requests. Alex smiled. It was relaxing and peaceful. 

But all wonderful things come to an end. He heard a loud scream and immediately saw a young child about to be hit by an oncoming truck. The truck had seen the child too late, and Aelfdene knew that if he didn’t intervene, it would be too late. No one could lift a child so fast. Aelfdene sighed, then concentrated, and with a burst of his mana, sent the child flying backward. He then proceeded to slow down the child’s speed until they had slowed to a stop. No one had noticed him using his magic. Good.

Aelfdene proceeded to conjure a laptop and immediately opened a video player. He needed to see the top mages at the school he would transfer to, then use that information to be completely and utterly average. Then he noticed something odd. Most of the top students were mortals, named Ain Vesta, with an aptitude to fire. There also was Rylan Hapi, Max Veles, Kai Vayu, Ace Heka, Nick Boreas, Erell Freyr, Aaru Ashvins, Zarius, and Sadria Aita. How… creative. Literally all of them were only one letter off, with Asher’s ‘Ace’ being the most creative name. Yet… somehow they weren’t found out? And they all just so happened to be in the same class… and they transferred all on the same day a couple months ago… They wouldn’t know subtly even if it hit them in their face.

Sure, they didn’t have the eye color that they were supposed to have, but Asher was the Immortal of Magic. Certainly, as some sort of Christmas or Birthday gift, he made them the contacts that wouldn’t mess with their magic flow? It’d make the most sense. Perhaps it could be some sort of freaky coincidence, but it seemed too much of a stretch to call it a coincidence. Besides, Asher was the best at magic; he could manipulate his aura better than anyone, including Aelfdene. Every immortal was the best in their field, Aelfdene couldn’t even match up with their talent, but Aelfdene had the ability of something else too… something they didn’t even know of. Something he used in… the last battle.

_ Aelfdene could remember it clearly; his life was flashing before his eyes. Everything was going so fast, but Aelfdene remembered it all so clearly. He remembered his parents; he remembered that horrible day he came back, just to see everyone dead. It was their fault. All of it. Why did they do that?  _

_ He saw himself become an immortal, watched as others arose with him. Watched as they bore children, expanded their reach, and watched as towns bloomed. If he failed… then who would protect them? If Aelfdene failed, then there would be no one left to protect. He couldn’t die, but if he was hit by this, he’d most certainly be put to sleep. For a long time. What would there be when he woke up? He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let them win. He couldn’t lose. He couldn’t fail them. He couldn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t!  _ ** _H E C O U L D N ‘ T! _ ** _ And then…  _

  
Aelfdene snapped back. He couldn’t let them find out anyways. They didn’t know how close he had come to losing. They couldn’t, and they wouldn’t. Aelfdene swore it. He wouldn’t let them worry about him again. It was useless. ** Besides, the threat had been neutralized. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this, but I'll be missing next week's update too!
> 
> (This is for school, so every time I turn in a chapter I post one.)


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More about Aelfdene!

Aelfdene sighed, preparing himself. He was about to arrive back. Certainly, certainly, they would notice him? Aelfdene hoped not. He manipulated his aura to that of a fourteen-year-old teen, stood up, and made his way there. He calmly entered the not-bank and stepped inside. Inside, the image of Arell and Rai talking with Asher and Jax.

“C’mon, can’t we keep him?” Arell asked, dialing his puppy dog eyes to eleven, trying to seem the cutest he possibly could.

“Arell. No. Bad. He’s a mortal! You haven’t even met him! He’s not just a stray pet you can just take off the streets.” Asher said, obviously being the only sane one in the group.

Aefldene inwardly sighed. It was amusing, hearing Asher speaking in that manner. It reminded Aelfdene of a fond memory that Aelfdene kept close to his heart, not that he’d tell anyone. Asher was his closest friend.

_Aelfdene felt warm and sticky. He lay in his bed, contemplating the universe. What had he done to make the universe hate him? Seriously, how many immortals caught the flu of all things? Sick! While yes, it was common, none of the Ancient Immortals had ever been sick. It was so unfair. Aelfdene had to endure the snickers and stifled giggling, but he knew it was all in pleasant fun. Aelfdene startled when he heard a noise at the door. Asher walked in, in all his glory. His lilac hair reached his shoulders, which was something common during this time. His royal purple eyes, with one eye having a swirl of metallic blue, the other eye seemed as if you were staring into a nebula, glinted. His face was slightly flushed pink as if he had run here. Aelfdene could hear soft pants. Asher smiled at him. Aelfdene grinned widely, waving him over._

_Aelfdene’s voice betrayed his current condition, no matter how much he had wanted to keep it a secret. “Why are you here?” Aelfdene recalled himself asking._

_Asher would faintly smile, and say, calmly, softly, but loud enough so Aelfdene could hear, “To keep you company, obviously. Don’t worry, you'll be better soon. Want to tell me something? Don’t worry, you can trust me.”_

_And Aelfdene _ ** _trusted_ ** _ him._

_Asher soon became Aelfdene’s best friend, his closest ally. Aelfdene opened up to the rest, acting as if they were all one big family. Everyone enjoyed partaking in the joke that Asher was the mom, and Asher didn’t bother to deny it. He was the closest to Aelfdene than anyone._

_And then… Aelfdene fell apart. He broke down, locking himself in an unknown location. His personality changed, leaving a shell of a person. He only left a note, containing a simple “I’m Sorry. ~ Aelfdene.” Aelfdene felt as if Asher’s grief was palpable as if he could hear his wails and screams of sorrow. Asher searched for Aelfdene the longest. He didn’t stop for anything, he searched for centuries, but he never found Aelfdene. He had collapsed from exhaustion, right on top of Aelfdene’s hiding spot. Aelfdene had teleported him inside, caring for him, nursing him back to health, before giving him a small message. “Give up. Alright? For me. I’ll come back. I promise. Please, I beg of you to believe in me, similar to how I believe in you. ~ Aelfdene.” And so, true to his word, Asher had given up, while still believing in Aelfdene._

Aelfdene snapped back to reality. He needed to stop doing that. That was the darkest hour, the darkest time for Aelfdene. He needed to stop thinking about that. Aelfdene smiled to himself fondly. Asher really was a mom, huh.

“By the way,” Arell said, his voice dropping pitch, his face more dangerous, completely wiped of the innocent look he was trying to keep up, “Aelfdene… left.”

A look of hurt had appeared on Asher’s face for a split second, before turning to a soft smile. “So he did,” Asher said, the smile in place as his gaze sharpened considerably, looking around as if he might find him. Aelfdene immediately started to walk away, trying to escape unnoticed. He had to seem as inconspicuous as possible and managed to reach his new home in record time. Alright, it wasn’t really a home- this was a big city, full of immortals and mages- only the rich could afford a house in general. Not to say that the apartments weren’t spacious, at least, in the area where Aelfdene would stay. Still though, there were the slums- after all, all mages and immortals were required to stay here- they didn’t want mages or immortals causing trouble in the night. Besides, mages and immortals didn’t always have satisfactory lives. There were poor mages and immortals.

Aelfdene sighed. He was getting his tour on Sunday, in which he would have to buy the required accessories for the school. It was the afternoon, and Aelfdene didn’t want to risk the chance of being seen. Aelfdene had gone online, looking at the newest posts on social media. He read up on articles; looking at the most popular items. The extensive and monotonous overview of the world only included the history of the world and magic, which clearly would be something he would excel in. He had no idea of any other things.

By the time Aelfdene had finished, it was already 10 PM. Aelfdene decided to turn in for the night. He turned off the lights, allowing the soft sounds of the city envelop him, sending him off to deep sleep. Aelfdene had woken up around 8 AM, getting more sleep than he had ever gotten before. He sighed. 8:30 AM was when he would receive his tour. Aelfdene made himself a quick yet large breakfast, enough to make his stomach surprisingly satisfied, considering how he had skipped out on dinner yesterday. It was 8:20 AM when Aelfdene decided to start moving towards the academy.

The rush and bustle of the city greeted his eyes as he walked out. Mages off to either teach, or off to the “gates”, where monsters rushed out of and younger immortals idled around, chatting with their friends, worked on homework, or left to help out. Immortals still had to work too. Many CEOs and were immortals. They could have normal jobs.

Aelfdene knew his eyes stood out, one lavender, the other gold surrounded by silver. Aelfdene broke out into a fast stride, jogging to the academy as fast as he could, without drawing any attention to himself. They could ask themselves later why his eyes were that way. At 8:27 AM, he arrived at the academy. It was not just an academy- it was equivalent to another town itself. Scanning his ID, and walking through the gate, Aelfdene entered the town.

It was loud and obnoxious, as he could hear the yelling and cheering of a nearby arena battle, and by the sounds of it, it was an S-Rank battle. You see, there’s a ranking system in this school, with everyone’s power being ranked. When your power was ranked, you’d receive your rank based on how powerful you were. There were weekly tournaments, where you’d have to battle someone with the same rank as you. There was the S-Class, who were the top 100 students, The A-Class, the top 200, the B-Class, which was the top 300, D-Class being the bottom 500, and F-Class being the bottom 100. C-Class was where everyone else was. See, each grade was huge, and your classes were split up to which class you were in. C-Classes would only have classes with other C-Classes, and so on, which meant some Classes had their classmates change constantly. Blueridge Academy was not only a high school, but also a college. College students had the same rules, and so the college and high school kids were separate; the high schoolers and college students each had their own separate building.

Another reason why there were so many people because so many people came from other countries. Some of the current S-Classes were, surprise surprise, Ace Heka, Kai Vayu, Rylan Hapi, Max Veles, Ain Vesta, Erell Freyr, Zarius Aita, Sadria Aita, Nick Boreas, and Aaru Ashvins, in that exact order. Jax, codename Max, was probably trying to beat Asher, codename Ace.

At exactly 8:30 AM, Aelfdene had reached the principal’s office. He hesitantly knocked on the door.

“Come in!” The principal opened the door, and his eyes widened. He knew that voice. It was Amaranth Beira, Immortal of Plants. Her smile was still there as he sat down. She spoke again, not letting Aelfdene reply to anything, “I just wanted to talk to you for a bit, about your class placement and housing.”

Aelfdene tilted his head to the side, and with a questioning look, asked, “But I already have a house?”

She smiled at him, her voice kind and gentle, “But do you have a guardian with you?”

“No…” Aelfdene responded. He wanted to facepalm at his own stupidity. That’s what he had forgotten. He was fourteen. He wasn’t supposed to be able to take care of himself.

She clapped her hands, a smile stretching wider, opening her mouth and saying, “See! I already have a dorm room for you! I hope you don’t mind, but when I talked to them about getting a new roommate, they agreed instantly. Here, I invited them to come in.”

Two people walked in. Aelfdene sighed in relief, unnoticed by anyone. It wasn’t any of the ‘Ancient Immortals’.One had honey-blond hair and blue eyes, while the other had black hair and green eyes. They both had nametags on, which made Aelfdene snicker mentally. Liam Andris, the taller one of the two, was the blonde, and Damian Adler was the black-haired teen. Even though Damian was taller than Liam, Liam was still tall- he was taller than Aelfdene.

Amaranth broke in, her voice breaking Aelfdene out of his thoughts, “They’ll be showing you around, but first I’ll need to measure your power.” She handed him a small card, explaining, “This will be your point card. Scan it when you battle and determining whether you win or lose, you’ll be given the number of points you earned. It will change determining who you fought. If they’re a rank above you and you lose, you lose fewer points than if they were a rank below you. The same thing will happen if it’s the opposite.” She frowned for a moment, before continuing yet again, gazing more intensely, trying to see if the aura he wore was false or not.

Amaranth was fairly adept at reading auras, but Aelfdene was only surpassed by Asher. She couldn’t read his aura correctly. She interpreted it as an average power level, granting him the average starting rank of C-Rank. “Oh right, here, let me take that,” as she took the point card from his hand, “Here you go!” She gave it back to him after giving him a starting amount of 500 points. You see, points were pretty much a currency. There was an entire market with points.

In Blueridge Academy, students were finally allowed to leave for the portals; the places that housed monsters and demons of the worst kind. The worst people who had ever existed ended up in there. Including… **him**. Not.. his “enemy”, but **him**. The person who Aelfdene had despised- no, he had **loathed** that “man” with such a passion, that back then, if he could, he would **rip that person limb from limb**. Although, he had already done that. He left only his head attached to the man’s torso. Aelfdene… he had. He had-

_“I forgive you.” Aelfdene had murmured to the man in his last dying moments. “I forgive you.” He had stared at the wreckage of the man who had almost destroyed everything, watching in horror as the man didn’t die, as he stirred, speaking his last words._

_“Thank you. I’ll repay that kindness when I die. Call upon me, Aelfdene, Judge of the Immortals. Call me, and I shall answer.” He had choked out, “My true name- the name you will call upon is-”_

“Mr. Sol, are you alright? You’ve been staring into space for a while. Do you need need to re-explain everything?” Amaranth Beira, or Mrs. Beira, as he should call her, asked. He could hear Liam and Damian’s whispering, questioning whether Aelfdene or Alex, was alright.

Aelfdene blinked, then replied, “No, I’m fine. Sorry, I’ve… been through a lot. I do this often.”

She stared, then nodded, before smiling brightly, as if she could dispel all his worries with it, and then telling him, “That’s fine. Alright then, I’ll have Mr. Andris and Mr. Adler show you around the academy.” She gestured to them both, and Liam and Damian stood up, gesturing that Aelfdene should do the same.

“C’mon, let’s start going already, newbie.” Damian said, taking hold of Aelfdene’s wrist and dragging him along. Aelfdene wanted to try and struggle out of grasp, but he knew it was useless. Even as the most powerful immortal, he was always physically weak. He had stamina, sure, but that was it. He couldn’t throw people off; not without using his mana. He let himself be dragged along, Liam trailing after them. Aelfdene observed Damian and Liam intently. They seemed like they were friends, and they both seemed to be popular.

He saw them waving and greeting people on their way to wherever. People seemed slightly afraid of Damian, perhaps he tended to be more violent? Liam was treated with kindness, people around him always asking for help.

“Hey, Liam! Wait up!” Called a girl from behind them. Damian stopped dragging Aelfdene, but he still held onto his wrist tightly. Liam stood patiently, a warm smile sneaking its way onto his lips as the girl caught up.

“Hi, Rebecca. Sorry, I can’t help you out right now. I’m helping the new kid take a tour.” Liam gestured to Aelfdene, indicating that Aelfdene was the new kid. Aelfdene saw a look of interest spark in her eyes, a sly smile appearing on her lips.

“So… you’re… What is your name, new kid?” She asked, looking at him, the spark of interest still there.

“Alex. Alex Sol, nice to meet you, Rebecca.” Aelfdene greeted her.

“Alex, huh... Nice name!” She told him, but there was something else in her eyes, and she spoke again, “The real question though, is…” She trailed off, looking a bit shy. She looked as if she had made up her decision, and asked him, “...What’s your rank?”

Aelfdene looked surprised for a bit, then composed himself. “Oh, me? I’m just a C-Rank. Nothing special here. Don’t lump me in with that overpowered transfer trope. I’m just a regular old person. I’m me. I’m Alex Sol. No one more, no one less.” He calmly lied.

“Liar.” Came a voice from straight behind him. Aelfdene jumped, whirling around.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oops i forgot to update monday-

At least, Aelfdene tried to whirl around, but Damian’s hand had tightened its hold on his wrist; Aelfdene could barely even twist his wrist. He couldn’t tell who it was, but by everyone’s look of anger, or in Rebecca’s case, terror, it wasn’t anyone good. Aelfdene let his curiosity overtake him, opening his mouth, but before he could, Damian beat him to it.

“What do you want, you-you numbskull?” Damian had snarled, his face darkening, looking ready to attack the person.

“Oh please, you cretin. Calm down. I just wanted to have a lovely talk with my little friend here, Alex," his tone was quite smug as he wrapped his arms around Aelfdene, lifting him up. Aelfdene let a startled yelp of surprise, and Damian only held onto his wrist tighter. The stranger laughed lightly as Aelfdene struggled harder, before letting Aelfdene go. Damian caught him. Aelfdene still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the man as he walked away. 

They had won this battle, but the stranger would be back. Aelfdene had a sinking suspicion of who it was. He hoped not. He was always quite annoying. The Ancient Immortals never knew about him. Aelfdene didn’t want the know about him, it would be quite a pain to have to deal with both them and him, but Aelfdene would deal with it. He would play them until his mask shattered into pieces; unable to come up with a suitable lie. Aelfdene could never say that he was his own child; after all, Aelfdene promised to never make a child. He couldn’t, as it would be a weakness upon him. He could never have a child, as it could be used to blackmail him or to threaten him. It would be something his enemies could use as leverage against him. Aelfdene also knew that he wouldn't be a very adequate father in the first place, so why bother?

Damian cleared his throat. “Alright, Alex. Come on, we’ll… erm," He trailed off, as if unsure what to do next, “erm... We don’t want to run into  _ him _ again… so…”

Aelfdene was curious, and of course, he wanted to know who he was, asked, “who was that person anyways? What’s his name?” 

Damian shuddered, before replying, “...I don’t even want to filthy my mouth by saying that scoundrel’s name.”

“You can’t even spell his name?” Aelfdene asked, puzzled.

Damian gave him a look, before answering, “listen, I don’t know why you want to know so badly, but he’s bad news over here. He’s an S-Rank, and not only that, he abuses his power. The teachers can never see behind his facade he puts up, and students are too scared to speak out against him. He’s a monster, and most people speculate he can hear when you speak or spell his name. I don’t know what you did, but you piqued his interest. He’ll be on you now.”

Aelfdene gulped. He was screwed. “What will we be doing now?” He questioned, nervously.

Damian sighed, before saying, “...we still have to give you a tour. I mean, we can’t just leave you here. We’ve been in school for a little over a month now, and we’re still getting lost.”

Aelfdene nodded, taking in the sights that beheld him. He wasn’t blind, but now that he wasn’t in a hurry, he could see how glamorous and overwhelming the place was. Aelfdene felt as though he was already lost; he would completely and totally be wandering the halls if not for the people there. “...So where are you taking me now?”

Damian motioned towards the large building, a couple of streets away. There seemed to be a road that led up to the school so that the older students could drive into the parking lot. Aelfdene nodded appreciatively. It was a wonder, the large grand openings, the way the whole place resembled a mixture of innovation and magic. Damian seemed to note his large eyes, full of wonder. Liam walked in front of them, motioning for Damian to pull Aelfdene along too. They walked towards the school.

Along the way, Damian and Liam chatted, and occasionally Aelfdene would join in, too. By the time they had arrived, Aelfdene was relatively knowledgeable about how the school dynamics worked. “Him”, a less… colorful way that Damian had referred to him as, was the quiet, manipulative type that hung in the shadows, covering itself by using a mask of obnoxious laughter and annoyance. Accordingly so, he had built up his reputation so that no one would believe them if they had told on him. He was intelligent and cunning. The nickname people called him by was “A.”

Aelfdene knew that it wasn’t a good combination. He, therefore, decided that he would try to avoid the guy at all costs. Another person, named Ryan, was a bully. A tyrant. No one tried to fight him, because he was the most powerful of them all. Thus, no one would fight him. Makes sense, right? No? Oh well. Ashley was the queen bee or the most powerful girl in the school. She was popular, but she was popular in the way that all popular girls were. It was an all-around basic thing. Oh, and the plot thickens. They’re siblings. Ashley and Ryan Darlian ruled the school, using their powers to torment those who were weaker than them. C-Ranks and below were their targets. How wonderful. Aelfdene winced. He knew that A and the Ancient Immortals could probably beat both of them, but it seemed as though they both didn’t want to. 

“Alex, are you alive? You’ve been unresponsive for a while, and I wanted to know if you were still alive. Seriously, you know how bad this would be on my record? ‘Oh yeah, it’s fine. We just can’t hire you because we’re 99% certain you killed a guy!’ Like, that would be horrible!” Liam snapped Aelfdene out of his thoughts, though despite his words, a concerned expression was apparent on his face. 

Aelfdene nodded, “yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry. I just kind of… stare off into space,” he shook his head, “you know, kind of like when you just become lost in your thoughts, and so you disassociate from the world around you?” 

“No… but let’s pretend that I completely do!” Liam stated, nodding his head eagerly despite his face being one of pure and complete confusion. 

Aelfdene smiled softly, looking at the massive doors swinging open widely, the grand decor and style inside; it was grand and large, and yet even with that it still felt like home. Aelfdene glanced up, almost tripping over in shock. His scythe, which he had left where the man died after the last body, was on display in a glass case full of magical enchantments. The plaque read “Aelfdene’s Scythe”, which was quite obvious. Below was a small reading room; obviously, it was for relaxation, though most students there stared at the scythe, awestruck.

Damian snickered, “it’s just always so hilarious to watch the freshman’s expressions, staring at the scythe of the judge," Liam nudged him, “sorry, sorry! But don’t do that man! It isn’t as if you didn’t want to do that either," Liam glared but didn’t give a word of denial.

Aelfdene glanced longingly at his scythe, as it seemed to call for him. Aelfdene couldn’t take it though. It would mean revealing who he was. He thought about it for a moment, before opening his mouth and asking, “why do they have his scythe, anyways?”

Liam, with a look of fascination, answered his question, “they’re just keeping it for safety. Legend says that when Aelfdene arrives, it’ll glow. Tons of people have tried faking it so that they could obtain the scythe, but they’ve always been caught."

Aelfdene modded absentmindedly. How interesting. He smiled but noted the scythe. It had, for a split second, glowed, though he didn’t think anyone had noticed it. He had covered it up with illusion magic, but anyone trying to read auras would see through it immediately. It was a gamble, but it seemed as though it paid off. No one noticed, and no one was suspicious. Aelfdene smiled to himself, taking one last longing look, before saying, “well, then, let’s leave to our destination! We shouldn’t dilly dally over here, right?”

Damian gave him a look of shock, before bursting into laughter. “I-I’m so-sorry, b-but, dilly- dilly dally? ‘We shouldn’t dilly dally over here,’ I’ve never heard anyone say that!” 

Liam looked vaguely annoyed at Damian, but a look of amusement had manifested on his face. “Sorry, Alex. Ignore this buffoon over here. He usually acts tough and intimidating, but under that, he’s just a huge softie. You’re starting to see that other side of him. As you were saying, we should leave. I’ll show you to your locker, then to your homeroom. Then, we’ll take you to the town square to run wild. Do what you want when we arrive there.”

Liam stopped for a moment as Damian whispered something into his ears. “What do you mean- oh, yeah! I completely forgot about that,” he turned to Aelfdene, “sorry about that, I just completely forgot about an extremely important thing! When you arrive at your homeroom, you stay with that homeroom for the rest of the year. No change even if you change classes. This is to promote school unity. You know, their attempt at trying to solve school bullying.”

He took out Aelfdene’s schedule, which had for some reason been given to him beforehand, instead of being handed to Aelfdene. Liam glanced at his homeroom teacher, then winced. “...What kind of luck do you have? It’s the absolute worst in the world! Your teacher is Mr. Veridian, who’s a pretty chill teacher in general. On the younger side, sure, but still, he teaches well.”

Aelfdene looked at him oddly, “then what’s the bad news?”

Liam gave him a pained smile as if he was sending him off to his doom, “he… erm… has Ryan and Ashley. Both. For homeroom. It just so happens that they…” He trailed off.

“They…? Hey, give me something to work with. What do they do? I mean, the worst they can do is hurt me," Aelfdene voiced, his tone nonchalant.

Liam visibly gaped at him. “Are you kidding me? They’re the absolute duo! The most powerful in the school! They could kill you and no one would ever find out!” He yelled, gaining the attention of a few of the student populace, drawing their gazes away from the scythe and onto Aelfdene.

Aelfdene shrugged, though a small smile was present on his face. “You do realize that there  **are** worse things than death.”

“You-you… what? What could possibly be worse than death?” Liam shouted.

Aelfdene shrugged once more. “...A lot. There are a lot of things that are worse than death," he smiled in response, but his smile was brittle, fake. He glanced at the small number of students trying to watch the ‘drama'. “Besides, shouldn’t we leave?”

Liam stilled, looking over at the hord of students. “Yeah... I think we should definitely leave."

Damian, at this point, had stopped laughing and was just staring. Staring. Unblinking. Before quietly, his voice so soft Aelfdene had to strain to hear it, “are you alright, Alex?”

Aelfdene smiled, his face warm and full of emotion, “don’t worry, you know? I’ll… I’ll be fine, ‘kay? ‘Sides, you’ve known me for around an hour, so don’t start assuming things! I’m perfectly- well, okay, I’ll be perfectly fine soon enough. C’mon, we’ve have a lot to do, don’t we? I don't want to be lost. It would suck to do that! ‘Specially on my first day.”

Damian looked at him oddly, before breaking out into a huge grin. He winked conspiratorially, before cheekily adding, “ya know, that’s the first time you’ve talked like an actual person. You’ve always just been talking like some sort of adult. It was kind of weird. I like you like this.”

Aelfdene smiled back at him. “You know, I think I quite enjoy conversing with a person of your likelihood. It’s a breath of fresh air," his voice had taken on a light, teasing tone.

Damian groaned. “No, not again! I had just gotten you to talk like a normal person! Now you’re back to the medieval ages!” He sighed dramatically leaning against Liam.

Liam attempted to shove Damian off of him, but Damian ended up leaning against him more. “Get off me, Damian. Seriously, you’re heavy!” Liam screeched, exasperated, though a slight sliver of fondness seemed to have snuck its way onto his face and tone. Damian stood up.

Damian walked over to the corridor, motioning for them to follow. Aelfdene diligently followed them and walked into a room. Liam suddenly froze, then turned to Damian, whispering something urgently. His face turned to one of shock, then, as they both looked at Aelfdene, a look of faint embarrassment. “Erm, sorry about this- but it seems as though we have to leave for a bit. Enjoy yourself here, and take in the room," Liam spoke apologetically. Aelfdene nodded.

  
They left the room, and immediately after they left, a young teen walked in, a malicious grin morphing on his face. Aelfdene choked. It was  **August Nightshade** , a face from his past with a relationship Aelfdene wouldn’t touch with a 5-foot pole.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

Aelfdene smiled nervously. They looked at each other, August staring deep into his eyes, Aelfdene not meeting them, instead opting to look August over. He still had his multicolored eyes; one a soft-forest green, and if you looked close enough, pink spots that looked suspiciously like petals. The other eye was a slate grey, with tiny sparkles visible. He had black hair, though, within it, small spots seemed to shine at a certain angle. A streak of forest green ran through his hair. August smiled amicably, before opening his mouth and closing it, as if wondering what he should say next. Aelfdene cleared his throat. An awkward silence descended upon them. August coughed. They still stared at each other, and August gave him another smile. A slow, predatory smile. 

He opened his mouth yet again as if he had decided what he wanted to say, “why, hello, Alex Sol. My name’s August Nightshade. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Aelfdene startled, almost falling over, he stared in shock. August- he didn’t- he didn’t know who he was? 

August raised an eyebrow, before pouting, “c’mon, what did they say about me? I promise that whatever they said, it’s just ‘cause they’re biased!”

Aelfdene looked up, suspiciously, “you’re telling me that you’re not a manipulative, horrible, scumbag? The dirt of the world? That you could go-”

August coughed, before speaking yet again, “no! I’m not- well, alright, I shouldn’t lie to you, but- erm, I’m not the scum of the earth! I promise you that!” He looked up at Aelfdene, his eyes widening, trying to pull off a ‘Look at me! I’m so innocent!’ look. Suffice to say, it didn’t work. 

“Alright, drop the act. I saw it in the beginning. You’re not like this at all. Drop it. Stop acting, you’re not fooling anyone here," Aelfdene commented, staring him down.

The look dropped off of August’s face instantly. A malicious look had reappeared on his face, all tenses of an innocent child gone. “So you know the truth about me? Darn, I had hoped to had gotten to you before Damian and Liam. You would’ve made a great ally. I knew I should’ve taken out- I mean, convinced Liam and Damian to think otherwise… Guess I have to deal-” he coughed, “I mean, convince you now," he looked at Aelfdene with the intent to kill- oh, excuse my language, ‘convince’ Aelfdene otherwise.

Aelfdene met his eyes calmly, not a trace of panic or fear behind his eyes. He breathed in deeply, weighing the pros and cons of August knowing who he was, before deciding on an answer. “Hey, you know, I’m fairly certain maiming someone is against the rules," he deadpanned, staring at August with the emotion of a rock.

He stopped dead in his tracks, almost tripping himself. “...You’re really not scared of me? You- you aren’t- you aren’t scared of me? Not worried about dying?” he asked in amazement.

Aelfdene shrugged, weighing his options again, before continuing, “yeah, well August, it’s not like either of us could die in the first place.”

It was August’s time to choke. He looked up at Aelfdene as if he was going crazy, before saying, “I-I’m sorry, I really didn’t think that you would reveal yourself to me. You put on a good show, but I remember what your eyes are like. To be honest, I’m still wondering why you even revealed yourself to me.”

“...If I really have to tell you, it’s because you would make a great ally. Besides, I’m 99% certain that I pissed off a certain someone," Aelfdene remarked, smiling slightly.

“Ah, right. Ryan and Ashley. The king and queen of the school. The so-called absolute duo. Yes, they do always have this routine with the new students, specifically transfer students. The fact that you’re a C-Rank… hm, they won’t bother you again after this. Just as you don’t, you know, piss them off more," August responded as if recalling something vague.

“...what in the world do they do?” he inquired, wondrously.

“Well, they, for one, could ruin your reputation, but they only do that to those they hate. They mostly… use brute force. Beat the absolute life out of you?” August replied.

“...They do that to everyone?”

“Yup!” August confirmed. “Anyways, talking about me being an ally, don’t worry! You can be my ally. ‘Sides, I’m more worried about you…” 

Aelfdene looked up, startled. “What? Why?” he demanded, panicked.

August smiled wickedly, winking at him as if he was sharing a secret, then walked closer to Aelfdene, and right next to him, whispered, “well, for starters, I’m also in your homeroom! Besides,” he walked back a bit, sitting down into a chair, “you know what class is partners with us?”

Aelfdene looked on curiously. “What do you mean by ‘partners’?” he questioned.

August looked up, shocked. “You mean to tell me that you don’t know- nevermind, that’s a stupid question. Well,” he looked at Aelfdene seriously, “a partner, per se, is pretty much the homeroom that you’ll work with the most often. On field trips, you’ll probably be in a group with at least one person from the other homeroom. Anyways, as I was saying, the class that we’re partnered with are the Eagles.”

Aelfdene tilted his head, a silent question.

August looked up, “ah, right. Sorry, sorry, it’s their nickname. We’re nicknamed the Lions, because of Ryan and Ashley. It’s Mr. Mikaelsen’s class, who also just so happen to have… the ‘Legendary Ten’. You know, Ace Heka, Kai Vayu, Rylan Hapi, Max Veles, Ain Vesta, Erell Freyr, Zarius Aita, Sadria Aita, Nick Boreas, and Aaru Ashvins? Those ten?”

Aelfdene stared at him. “...August, for the love of my sanity, please tell me that you know that nine of them are part of the ‘Ancient Immortals’?” he asked, hopefully.

August stared at him, in shock. “You’re kidding me! They’re- what?” he exclaimed, surprise popping in his eyes.

“I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed," Aelfdene answered, with a disapproving shake of his head. “Where did the person I used to know go? You used to be so… cunning. Manipulative. Actually intelligent. Sure, you were on our side, but I just don’t see the old you anymore.”

“I’ve changed, Aelfdene. Don’t you remember that? Everyone changes, and it’s been literal centuries since we last talked. The old me is still there, just no so noticeable. I had to tone it down, when you left," August shrugged, like a “what can you do?” shrug.

Aelfdene looked down, contemplating what to say next. A sudden flash realization hit him, as he opened his mouth to voice his thoughts, “wait, hold up, oh wonderful colleague of mine, I’m confused. Are they going to beat me up or…?”

August looked up. “Ah, right, Ryan and Ashley. They are actually intelligent, so they aren’t going to beat you up too much. Just perhaps rough you up. Maybe try to embarrass you. Prove their place. That kind of stuff, you know?” 

Aelfdene nodded. Fantastic. Just wonderful. A small question hit him. “Why do they do that to everyone? Even C-Ranks?”

August looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying, “perhaps to assert their dominance? They always like the place of power, and they don’t want anything to challenge them.”

Aelfdene looked out the window, spying Liam and Damian walking back in. August had about three minutes to escape. “You should probably start going, you know unless you want to deal with Damian?” he advised.

August’s eyes widened. “Sh-” He trailed off, “I mean, shoot! Thanks, Aelfdene! Catch ya later, alright?”

“No.”

“Aelfdene, you’re so mean!” August wailed.

Aelfdene rolled his eyes, then proceeded to push August out the door. “Shoo shoo! Leave now!”

August pouted, then started making a break for it, jumping out a conveniently opened window. Aelfdene speculated that August had planned that out. He walked back into the classroom, finally taking it in.

Across the room, there were tables placed in rows, though there were different levels. Like a staircase of some sort, each ‘level’ had a table. Each table had a total of four seats, except for one. Only two seats sat there, the chairs oddly blinged out. Aelfdene assumed these were Ryan and Ashley’s seats. He sighed. How self-centered were they?

Two people entered the room. Liam and Damian had come back, each talking quickly to each other in low voices. They looked up at Aelfdene, and then they immediately stopped talking. They both looked awkwardly around.

“...Alright, this is too awkward for my own tastes," Aelfdene stated, annoyed.

Liam looked at him, before revealing, “I don’t know how to put this, but… erm… uh… you’rekindofintrouble?” 

“What? Could you repeat that again, but slower?” Aelfdene stressed the last word.

“I said, you’re kind of in trouble," Liam told him, slower so that Aelfdene could understand.

“I haven’t even been here for a day. What do you mean that I’m in trouble?” Aelfdene asked, confused.

Damian stepped in, “well, they want to beat the life out of you. They would, but we’re here to help."

Liam nodded along. “Sure, I’m a bit worried, but I think I got the nerves out of me!”

Aelfdene took a look outside. There wasn’t anyone there, but he felt a strange foreboding sensation as if something dangerous was coming. He internally flinched. Something was going to happen. Something was going to happen, and it wasn’t about to be good.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and Damian and Liam stopped talking. They looked around nervously. The door slammed open, and in walked Ryan and Ashley.


	7. Chapter 6

Ashley’s hair was dyed a light turquoise color. She had electric blue eyes, and she wore a designer brand shirt with a skirt, coupled with a fancy jacket and a bag. She wore light makeup, which seemed to be going for the theme of natural. Objectively, Aelfdene could see that she was beautiful. Of course, Aelfdene didn’t start dropping to the ground and worshipping the ground she stepped on. He could see how many boys did like her, however.

Ryan’s hair was a light blonde color, and also had electric blue eyes. He wore a simple t-shirt and jeans. Ryan seemed less obvious, more hesitant. Aelfdene knew just from looking into his eyes that this was all just a front. He didn’t want to do this.

How odd. Was he just trying to follow his twin? Aelfdene shook himself from his thoughts, trying to re-concentrate.

Ashley opened her mouth, on her face a look of superiority, “So, what do we have here? Oh, I know! The most pathetic S-Ranks in the school with another pitiful C-Rank. I can’t believe they would let a transfer in with such little power! Aw, look at you, so adorable and short.”

“I’d like you to know that I’m average height, excuse you," Aelfdene said, mildly annoyed at her behavior.

“No way! Did you just talk back to me? How unbelievable. C’mon, Damian, Liam, did you even explain how this hierarchy works?” Ashley said.

“Oh, the hierarchy can jump off a cliff for all I care," Aelfdene replied.

“Oh, he talks back! Yes, I must have him. It’s so adorable when the meager, inadequate C-Ranks try to think they’re worth something," Ashley practically squealed.

“I’m a human being. I have my rights, and I’m fairly certain that I can’t be done. Now, if you’re done, I’ll be leaving," Aelfdene calmly told her, preparing to leave.

“...What? You’re not even going to talk about how you’ll overcome your circumstances and rise to the top?” Ashely exclaimed, surprised.

“Am I supposed to?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Ashley, annoyed. “You’re supposed to go on and on about how you’re going to surpass the limits that were set upon you, and-” Ashley was cut off.

“Okay… a wonderful talk, Ashley. Now if you don’t mind me, I’ll be leaving now!” Aelfdene shouted, surprising everyone nearby.

“No way. You aren’t allowed to leave," Ashley practically snarled.

“Who’s telling me that? You? You can’t tell me what to do, thank you very much,” Aelfdene replied, vexed.

He stood up and started at the door. Ashley grabbed his wrist, pulling him back into a seat. “ **Sit down** ,” she commanded.

Aelfdene glanced around. Ryan’s worried eyes caught onto his, and they locked gazes. Ryan’s eyes contained a certain kind of despair as if he was in a situation he didn’t want to be in. Aelfdene suspected that it was his sister that spread rumors about him, and so everything he ever did was always interpreted wrong.

Aelfdene stood up, shaking Ashley’s hand off. He walked to Ryan, gave a kind smile, offered his hand, and asked, “hello, my name’s Alex. Alex Sol. Would you be so kind as to indulge in the trivial matter that many call friendship?”

“What?”

“...sorry, I meant do you want to be my friend?” Aelfdene rephrased.

“You do realize who I am, right? I’m a tyrant! I’m a horrible person. I’m a bully. Most of all, I’m a monster!” Ryan’s voice raised near the end.

“All I see is a person. You’re you,” Aelfdene told him.

Ryan blinked. He froze for a moment, realizing that Aelfdene was telling the truth. A small grin appeared before he quickly answered Aelfdene’s question, “my name is Ryan Darlian. I would appreciate to indulge in the trivial matter that many call friendship.”

Aelfdene grinned, then pulled Ryan into a hug. Ryan went rigid, momentarily confused by what to do, then hugged back. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Aelfdene stood back, smiling. “No problem. You look like someone who needs a friend. Now then, c’mon! Let’s get going, shall we?” he asked.

Damian and Liam stood up, following Aelfdene as he and Ryan walked out of the room, leaving behind a stunned Ashley.

“So,” began Liam, “you wanting friends? Since when did that happen?”

Ryan looked away shyly, before answering, “Ashley and I have always been together. We were twins, and I was always expected to be just like her. I couldn’t escape. It was as if she was a part of me. And I hated it.”

Aelfdene nodded. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not lying, you know. You can join August and me during homeroom,” he added.

“...Did you just say ‘August?’ Like, August ‘I can ruin your entire life in a couple of seconds, but I’m just too lazy to do so’ Nightshade?” Ryan asked, shocked.

“Yes, yes I did. Don’t be too scared of him, okay? He’s pretty chill,” Aelfdene commented.

Liam and Damian gazed at him, shocked. “Oh my gosh what has the world come to?” Liam mumbled out, impossibly fast.

Damian looked conflicted for a moment, then gazed up at the sun. It was noon. “Let’s get something to eat, shall we?” he questioned.

Everyone nodded, so we made off to the food court.

Everything after that seemed like a weird fever dream. I remembered the odd looks that were given to the rag-tag group. Three S-ranks with one C-rank was bound to attract some attention. Especially with Ryan Darlian.

The Legendary Ten were at the food court too. Aelfdene swore quietly under his breath and slipped away. Luckily, he had already finished his food as they came. The others followed him.

After that, the day passed by in a blur. Aelfdene still wasn’t quite sure what happened. He remembered going back to his house to grab his stuff, or at least his clothes. He had then gone back to the dorms, Damian and Liam showing him his room. They had shocked expressions when he revealed that he hadn’t brought anything with him. The school had given him a laptop, which lay on his desk. The dorm was fairly large, with enough room for a couple more to come over. His room contained a bed, desk, lamp, and a closet. He had been expected to bring something to spice up his room. 

Aelfdene decided against eating dinner, and after he played around on his laptop, it had become an acceptable time to go to sleep. He showered, brushed his teeth, and changed into sleepwear. Climbing into bed, Aelfdene closed his eyes and allowed sleep and exhaustion to overtake him.


	8. Chapter 7

Aelfdene woke up the next morning. He had gone through his morning routine, cleaning himself up and changing into the school uniform. He hadn’t realized there even was one, but apparently they had changed it so that there were uniforms. Something about bullying? Aelfdene wasn’t quite sure.

He had eaten a bit of breakfast when Damian had stumbled in, sleep evident in his eyes. “How in the world are you so awake right now?” he asked, impressed.

Aelfdene winked, a smirk on his face as he answered, “magic. Now then, are you going to go and eat now? School starts at 8, Damian. It’s 7:30, and the school is a five-minute walk.” Aelfdene stopped. “Wait a second… where is Liam?”

Damian grinned, embarrassed, “I sort of annoyed him really early in the morning, so he left to go to the library.”

“...Fantastic. Just wonderful,” Aelfdene muttered to himself, “I have to be stuck with you now.”

Damian’s grin only widened further.

Aelfdene left earlier than Damian, arriving at the school at 7:45. He brought his laptop with him, too. He needed to be prepared, and so he met with Mr. Veridian. Mr. Veridian, his teacher, had long blonde hair tied in a loose ponytail. Apparently, having long hair was becoming more popular due to trying to honor Aelfdene. Interesting. He had striking green eyes, tan skin, one that you would get from being at the beach for a long time, and was around 6’ 3”. According to gossip, he was popular among campus.

“Hey, I’m Mr. Veridian. But call me Andrew. Mr. Veridian makes me feel old, you know?” Andrew paused, and at that moment Aelfdene nodded, “anyways, I’m your homeroom teacher.” He looked sheepish before continuing, “to be honest, this is literally just a study hall. You see, this school is so busy that they can’t fit into a study hall. No one even wants to take on, as this is a highly competitive school. This class takes thirty minutes. I’ll welcome you in, and you can introduce yourself to the class.”

At 8 o’clock, Aelfdene was standing outside of the classroom. The class was rowdy and quite loud, as Aelfdene could hear. It was a bit unsettling when as soon as Andrew cleared his throat, they all fell silent. “Alright class,” he began, “welcome our new student. You can come in now.”

Aelfdene walked into the classroom. He could feel the class’s stares on him as he walked in. He was average but only compared to this school. In other schools, he would be considered elite.

Aelfdene cleared his throat. “Hello, my name is Alex Sol. It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” he smiled easily, looking around at the class. Ashley scowled at him, August waved happily, and Ryan offered a tentative smile.

Andrew looked at him, before commenting, “you can tell us more about yourself. What do you like and dislike? Any hobbies? Favorite food? What’s your affinity?”

Aelfdene nodded. “Well, I like loyal friends. I dislike…” he trailed off. What did he not like? He supposed he hated when he was lied to, but wasn’t that what he was doing now? He continued, gathering his courage, “I dislike liars. I… don’t have any hobbies. I don’t have a favorite food, either. My affinity?” He thought about it for a moment, “I suppose my affinity would be wind, wouldn’t it?”

Andrew gave him an odd look, “what do you mean by that?”

Aelfdene looked away. “Ah, don’t mind that, you know?” he gave a nervous laugh.

Andrew had a suspicious look on his face as he nodded, “you can sit next to August. You know, the boy with black hair?” Aelfdene nodded and made his way to the table.

He clutched his laptop tightly as he sat down, putting it down at the table.

Andrew clapped his hands together, before announcing, “alright class, I want everyone to introduce themselves for our new student. Just say your name.”

The first student stood up. “Blair Williams.”

“Noah Adams.”

This went on for several long minutes, the long-suffering gazes of the student bored into Aelfdene’s eyes. At least he knew the people who sat at his table’s names were. August Nightshade, Aella Luise, and Lillith Dragan. August had somehow managed to change his eye color to something less obvious, just a pale green. Aelfdene had to interrogate him when he had the chance. Aella had pastel red hair and deep orange eyes. The first thing Aelfdene had noticed though was her height. She was short, around five feet tall. Lillith, however, had brown hair. Her eyes were a navy blue, and she was taller than Aelfdene. Not by too much, but a considerable amount.

He noticed that Aella and Lillith were staring at him. “Is there something on my face?” he asked, confused.

Aella blushed, while Lillith simply raised an eyebrow. Lillith spoke first, her voice uncertain, “no, it’s just that you have really interesting eyes.”

A wave of panic consumed him, “oh? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, your eyes are multicolored. One ring of silver around gold. Another a violet color. It’s unusual. I’ve never seen gold and silver in someone’s eyes. You see, most immortals have a color scheme that others have too. Their eyes always have a combination that at least someone else has,” Aella interjected.

“But I’m a mage?” Aelfdene questioned, puzzled.

“That’s what confuses me more,” she shook her head, “but that’s impossible. There’s no way you could be an immortal, anyways. We have plenty of immortals here too. Ryan and Ashley may seem like the most powerful, but that’s not true. There… are a lot more powerful people.” Aella looked over at a table. He noticed the students there had a particularly powerful aura.

“They’re immortals?” he inquired.

Lillith interrupted Aella, “yes, they’re immortals. They think that they're better than us, always laughing at us as if we’re stupid or something.”

Aelfdene noticed how the group kept on looking at him. They were ridiculously good looking, and even though they wore the standard uniform, they all wore expensive accessories. They were the stereotypical rich kids of immortals.

“Anyways, I’m going to go chat with my other friends. It was nice meeting you, Alex!” Aella looked over to Lillith and then proceeded to drag her, “c’mon, let’s get going already.”

Aelfdene sighed and looked to August. There seemed to be a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. He stood up and walked over to him.

“What’s wrong, August?” he asked, concerned.

A gasp rippled around the room, though they quickly stifled it. If Aelfdene wasn’t as perceptive as he was, he wouldn’t have noticed it. An eruption of whispers erupted, though they were quickly silenced as soon as August glanced at them.

“That. That’s what’s wrong, Ae-lex,” August told him, slipping up on his name.

“Ah. I suppose your mighty reputation precedes you, huh?” Aelfdene teased.

“Oh, shut it why don’t you?”

Aelfdene looked as if he was deep in thought, then cheekily retorted, “No, I don’t think I will.”

He looked up to see Ryan. Ryan seemed to be looking for a sign of approval from them for him to come over. He smiled softly and waved his hand. Ryan self-consciously walked over.

“It’s alright if I come-” Ryan began to inquire, but Aelfdene interrupted him.

“Yes, you idiot, you can. You’ve already come over anyways.”

“Am I supposed to feel insulted?” Ryan questioned, wonderingly.

“...I have no clue, Ryan. Just go along with it, okay?” Aelfdene responded.

Ryan rolled his eyes, but he looked better than he had the day before. Practically glowing, his smile was bright and happy. He looked more real than he had yesterday. Aelfdene wondered if Ashley could be the same as her brother. What had happened to make her that way?

A burning sensation of need, desire, curiosity overtook him as he glanced back at the immortals. “Is there anything you know about them?” he desperately inquired.

Ryan nodded, “yeah. They’re all pretty popular too. Especially because they come from rich families and are immortals. The first boy, you know, the one with long black hair and grey eyes? That’s Azarius Kieron. The girl who he’s talking to is Jade Skyes. Jade has dark purple eyes. The other girl who’s reading a book is Layla Rudra. The boy staring out the window is Lucas Veles.”

Aelfdene choked. Veles? As in Jax Veles, Immortal of Earth? He hadn’t been paying attention to names being called, but now he knew he should’ve.

Ryan continued, “apparently there are rumors that he’s the Immortal of Earth’s adopted son, but why would the Immortal of Earth adopt him? I think he’s just Max’s fraternal twin.”

“By Immortal of Earth, do you mean Jax?”

A wave of gasps and murmurs arose after Aelfdene’s voice spoke up. Lucas, the boy in question, stood up.

“Are you disrespecting the Immortal of Earth? No one uses his first name. They only did that back then, when the mages were more powerful. Seriously, I know you’re new and all, but really?” Lucas questioned, annoyance seeping into his voice.

“Sorry, I only know them by their first name. My guardian never thought to change my ways. Didn’t know it was rude to do so,” Aelfdene commented.

Lucas simply raised an eyebrow, huffed, and turned around, but Aelfdene could see how he got out his phone immediately after. He was texting someone. Odd.

Ryan’s face changed to an immediate look of terror. “Shoot, of course! That’s what I was forgetting! I forgot to do the geometry homework. Oh my gosh, I'm going to die,” he ran back to his desk, lost in worry.

Aelfdene turned to August. “Veles. That’s the Immortal of Earth last name,” Aelfdene told him, worriedly.

August shrugged, whispering, “I guess you’re screwed then. Hope you’re a better actor than you seem, Alex.”

“Oh, believe me, I am a better actor than I seem, August. Besides, on a better note, how did you manage to change your eye color?” he murmured back.

“Magic,” August replied, his grin shameless.

“...I’m going to murder you one day, August,” Aelfdene responded.

“Sure, Jan.”

The day went by swimmingly until lunch. The morning classes were all academics, like geometry. The afternoon classes would be more of a problem, as they were magical classes. Aelfdene was walking to the cafeteria when he was pulled into a classroom. An arm was wrapped around his waist, hand on his mouth. They uncovered when he was successfully pulled in the classroom.

He looked up, and the gazes of the Legendary Ten met him.


	9. Interlude: The Beginning

The life of Aelfdene Sol is a tragic one. When he was young, his parents, everyone he knew and loved, had been brutally murdered. Truly though, the biggest tragedy, the one that affected him the most, was his first battle. He had fought many battles. It had been many centuries ago that Aelfdene had fought his first battle. Back then, he was naive and foolish. He failed to see how people could do wrong in the world. Back then, Aelfdene had already opened up to the rest of the Ancient Immortals. He had been good friends with them all, especially Asher. He began to lose the mask he wore around them. They could read his emotions easily. 

He lost his wariness and caution. He was  **foolish** to have trusted that guy. After his first battle, Aelfdene just wanted to stop. He wanted to pretend it never happened, but it had happened. He couldn’t lie to himself. It was that exact battle that nearly pushed him off a cliff. It was that battle that did push him over the edge, of at least his morality. Had he not thought about staining his hands red with blood, he wouldn’t have hesitated. He wouldn’t have-

Aelfdene stopped.

“Oh, hi. Don’t you know it’s rude to invade people’s thoughts? No?” he asked, playfully. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. You’re here for a reason, right?” Aelfdene paused as if he was trying to hear an answer.

His eyes softened. “You want to hear the story of my first battle? What I consider to be one of my biggest mistakes? Alright… let me begin…” Aelfdene murmured, his voice quiet.

He cleared his throat, before opening his mouth and beginning his story, “it was a long, long, time ago. I was a foolish and naive person. There was a murderer on the loose, going by the name of Adiran. He had no last name.

I was sent to kill him. Simple as that. He was a deplorable person. He murdered children, pillaged villages, ripped men limb from limb, and, well, he was just a horrible, horrible person. 

I met him in a cold and desolate field. I set up a large barrier. He wasn’t immortal, but he had gained so much strength that it was hard to believe he wasn’t. Adiran wore a cloak, a black hood covering his face. His aura was blood-thirsty, as though he wanted nothing more than to just rip out my throat. 

He flung spell after spell, weapon after weapon, never exhausting. I can still remember it…”

_ Aelfdene was panting. Physical strength was not something he had. He had an idea, though he felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. He could use magic to strengthen himself. His magic curled around him protectively, instantly recharging him. He called out his scythe.  _ ** _It was time to end this._ **

_ A knife whizzed by as he dodged it, finally obtaining a good read on his fighting style. Sliding under another volley of spells, jumping over a wave of swords, he quickly reached Adiran. Scythe at his throat, Aelfdene was just about to slit it. HOWEVER, HE HESITATED. _

_ Adiran’s eyes widened, his voice weak and fearful, “please! Don’t kill me, oh honorable Aelfdene! I am just a mere mortal! I can change! I promise you that. Just… let me go, alright?” _

_ Aelfdene had agreed to it. _

“What a fool I was, falling for that trick. I slept for a week straight from exhaustion. When I woke up, Asher was at my door."

_ “Aelfdene?” Asher had asked, though it wasn’t much of a question. “Did you… didn’t you say you had dealt with him?” he questioned, worriedly. _

_ Aelfdene nodded. “Yeah, I did. He told me he would change," he told him. _

_ Asher froze. “Aelfdene, I don’t know how to say this… He, well, he… lied." _

_ Aelfdene looked up, shock unraveling on his face, as cold darkness swept over his heart. His voice trembling, so frail, so weak, so… pitiful, he asked one question, “what did he do?” _

_ Asher froze. “I-I don’t really know if you want to know this," Asher had stuttered out. _

_ Aelfdene’s face changed instantly.“Asher, I swear to the everloving name of my soul, I will rip out your throat and tear you to shreds, then wait for you to reform, and then do it all again if you don’t answer my question," Aelfdene threatened, his tone ice-cold, his face stony. _

_ “Alright, I will. This time, it was even worse," Asher looked up as if recounting some story, “it was horrible. Bodies were everywhere. Women with an arm half off, children without legs, arms, even heads. Men were dead, brutally murdered. Villages were burned to the ground. It was chaos, Aelfdene. The worst of all, though, was the message in the center of it all, written with the blood of a child." Asher seemed hesitant to say the message. _

_ “...I’m not some sort of doll, Asher. It’ll be fine, just tell me already," Aelfdene had responded firmly. _

_ Asher nodded. “It, erm, it… alright, what was written, and I quote, '' _ ** _You’re much too foolish and naive, oh honorable Aelfdene. Look at the chaos around you. It’s all your fault. Their blood that was shed, if you hadn’t hesitated, they’d all be alive. It’s all your fault. Though I do suppose I have to thank you. You know, for helping me." _ ** _ Asher looked worriedly at Aelfdene. _

_ Aelfdene looked up at Asher, stood up, and waved goodbye. “I’m leaving," Aelfdene told him, walking out. _

_ “Wait! Aelfdene, why are you leaving?” Asher called out, distressed. _

_ “To finish what I started," Aelfdene replied ominously while opening the door. _

“After sending that message to him, I walked off. Off to where I don’t know. I just followed where my gut instinct told me to. It led me back to where I first fought him."

_ Aelfdene stood back at the desolate field, where the battle had recently occurred. Standing in the middle of it? Adiran.  _

_ Adiran looked up joyfully. He clapped his hands, happily exclaiming, “oh, great Aelfdene, can’t you see how much I’ve changed?” _

_ Aelfdene gave him a look that had as much emotion as a rock. “Yes. You’ve changed so much. Thanks for murdering literally everyone in all those villages," He replied, his voice deceptively calm. _

_ “Aw, shucks! No need to thank me!” Adiran responded joyfully. _

_ Aelfdene didn’t say anything in response. He just stared at Adiran cold fury slowly crawling up to him. It gripped his heart, dousing his view in a hue of crimson. He wanted to  _ ** _kill_ ** _ that man. He wanted to rip his heart out. At the same time, something was trying to stop him. It was trying to make him see the truth. Trying to make him understand that this was immoral. He had to, right? There was no other thing he could! What else could he do? He tried to forgive, but that just caused even more deaths, right? _

_ It was all he could do! What else was there? What else could Aelfdene do? He tried reasoning with it. This man was a deplorable excuse for a human being! He had not a single speck of kindness, of humanity in him. If he was to spare this man again, what could he do? Adiran was a liar and a horrible person. He deserved to die!  _

_ He had to kill him. He had to. There was nothing else he could do.  _ ** _It had to be done._ ** _ The cold fury regained control yet again. He looked at Adiran, who seemed to have just been waiting. Aelfdene made his first move. He summoned his scythe. _

_ With a flash, he was at Adiran’s throat. Adiran was expecting it though, and so he countered with his own move. Their weapons clinking and spell after spell firing at each other, each only missing by a couple of centimeters. _

_ “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t think you’d be so annoyed? Why? Is it ‘cause you know it’s all your fault that they died?” Adiran teased, attempting to rouse Aelfdene further off the edge. _

_ “Shut up," Aelfdene replied, venom dripping from each word. _

_ “Oh, you’re feisty, huh? That’s cute. Trying to deny it. It’s all your fault, you know? You could’ve saved them all, but instead, you left them to die," Adiran mocked. _

** _“Shut. Up," _ ** _ Aelfdene snarled yet again, wanting nothing more than to just end him. He swung his blade, missing Adiran’s head by a few centimeters because Adiran dodged.  _

_ “C’mon, can’t even hit me? Seriously Aelfdene, it’s as though you’re holding back!” Adiran ridiculed, letting out a small laugh. _

_ Aelfdene froze. _

_ “No way! No way, it’s true! You’re holding back? How  _ _ pathetic _ _ are you?” Adrian taunted, laughing harder. _

_ Aelfdene didn’t know what to say to that. _

_ “That’s hilarious. How pitiful, you are, oh mighty Aelfdene. Taking pity on little ol’ me? I’m just a murderer. You spared me once, look at what I did. Why don’t you spare me again," his face took on an innocent look, “I promise that I’ll change." _

_ Aelfdene tried to keep his anger in check, tried to control his breathing, tried to regain the control slipping from his grasp. Of course, tried was the keyword. _

_ Aelfdene  _ ** _snapped_ ** _ . _

_ His vision became dark. He could feel his arms swinging, himself casting a huge spell. He could hear screaming, the pitiful pleads from Adiran, and then… he heard nothing. He was left there, motionless until Asher’s yelling snapped him out of his trance. _

_ He gazed at the wreckage he made. Adiran was a mess. His body was scattered everywhere. Aelfdene couldn’t look at the scene any longer, so he looked down. Blood, crimson blood, stained his hands, slowly dripping down. He stared in horror and shock, mumbling out, “what have I done?”  _ ** _He was a monster_ ** _ . _

_ “It’s alright, Aelfdene," Asher’s calming voice snapped Aelfdene out from his thoughts. “It’s all fine. C’mon," Asher opened his arms, “you can cry now." _

_ Aelfdene surged forward, collapsing into Asher’s arms as all strength left him, and cried until he had no tears left. _


	10. Chapter 8

“Do you guys just always go around kidnapping people?” Aelfdene asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.

“We just wanted to ask a simple question, alright?” a boy with reddish-orange hair and amber eyes responded.

“And you do so by literally  **kidnapping** me?” 

The boy at least had enough decency to look embarrassed. “I didn’t think you would take it like that! I just, well, erm…” he trailed off.

“Just get on with it already Ain!” Another boy shouted across the room from the shadows.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I got off-topic, didn’t I?” Ain questioned.

“No dip Sherlock,” Aelfdene told him.

“Oops. I do that often. Anyways, I was going to ask you why you called the Immortal of Earth ‘Jax.’ I mean, it’s a bit odd, isn’t it?”

“Force of habit,” Aelfdene responded nervously.

“Oh?” Another boy, different from the other two, broke in. His tone of voice was powerful and inquisitive. He wanted to ask more.

The boy who had just talked stepped out from the shadows. He made his way across. He had navy blue hair and pale yellow eyes. He smiled, but it was full of intelligence. Perhaps this was Rai? Did his personality change, just like August’s? He had met him, but perhaps Rai had thought ahead. Maybe he acted polite just so that Aelfdene’s perception of him would be the same. So that Aelfdene could try to use advantages that didn’t exist. It certainly was an option.

“My name’s Kai. I also specialize in wind. What a coincidence, am I right?” his smile stretched inhumanly wider, as if he had just verbally cornered him, “the biggest coincidence is how you managed to transfer just days after the Judge of the Immortals, Aelfdene, stepped into the city. You see, Aelfdene has this specific magical signature. And we found it in a forest, just a couple of days ago.”

Aelfdene’s eyes widened, “oh? That’s cool! But wouldn’t the Judge of the Immortals measure as something… powerful? I’m just a C-Rank, you know?”

Kai looked at him oddly, “really? Do you seriously think he wouldn’t try to blend in with us?”

Aelfdene shook his head. “Better yet, why do you know so much about him? Aren’t you just supposed to be some powerful S-Rank? How come all of you guys know so much about him?” his tone was clueless, as if he had no idea what or why this was happening. Playing dumb usually threw them off track.

Kai looked surprised for a moment. Aelfdene could hear the whispers around him. “Oh, sorry. I must’ve,” he fumbled around, looking thoroughly embarrassed, “I must’ve gotten the wrong person. Sorry Alex, you can get going now.”

Aelfdene nodded. He had a new tactic if they ever got suspicious again. He looked at the door, noticing that it was still locked. “The door is locked, you know?”

“Oh, sorry,” Kai opened the door for him.

Aelfdene walked off back into the hallway, making his way towards where August should be. He maneuvered to where August was, lying in the shade next to a tree, sitting down beside him. Aelfdene pushed his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them. “Hey,” Aelfdene started, “how has your day been?”

“It’s been fine.”

“You alright?” Aelfdene asked.

“Yeah, but I know you haven’t been. How was meeting the Legendary Ten?” August questioned playfully.

Aelfdene groaned, “it was awful. I’m not even sure I’ll make it past this semester before they find out. Besides, it’ll only get worse from now on because the lessons after this will be based only on magic!”

“I mean, at least you get to practice with people on your supposed level.”

“That’s true,” Aelfdene amended, “but how about this: suffering.”

August stared at him for a moment, “consider the following: no.”

“But like, suffering is a great idea August!” Aelfdene pleaded.

August shook his head, “good lord, you’re ruining my reputation, Alex.”

“What, do you want me to go all stiff-like again? I can do that if you like, but I thought that it was too much like…” Aelfdene stopped for a moment, “gosh, I thought I would never say this, it was too much like me.”

August shook his head fervently, “no. We’re not having you go acting like a statue all over again. Though, the main question that’s been on my mind is… how in the world did you manage to use half the stuff here?”

Aelfdene smiled awkwardly, flashing back to all of his mistakes. They called him a klutz, as he fumbled around, nearly dropping a couple of items. “Let’s just not talk about that,” he told August as he shuddered. The worst was the pencil sharpener incident.

“Like, what happened in that class? You know, with the pencil sharpener-”

“ **We don’t talk about that, August,** ” Aelfdene responded forcefully.

“Woah woah woah, okay. No need to go all ‘I’ll murder everyone you know and love you don’t just shut up.’ on me, alright? I quite like breathing air, you know?” August voiced.

“Fantastic. It just so happens to be a coincidence that I like breathing air too! How amazing August. What a wonderful discovery,” Aelfdene remarked.

“Rude,” August muttered, although mainly to himself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” August squeaked.

“That’s what I thought you said.”

The banter ended when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Aelfdene hadn’t eaten anything, but it wasn’t like he was hungry in the first place. “See you, Alex!” August yelled, running back towards the school.

Aelfdene smiled gently, stretching for a moment, before making his way towards the school. Period 6, Introduction to Wind Magic. It was not only split up by rank, but also by element. Fire, water, wind, and earth were all split up. His teacher would be Ms. Vatria, a young woman who was well versed and educated.

Aelfdene waited patiently near the wall when the bell rang. Ms. Vatria guided him to a seat and sat him down. “Hello, class! Welcome back. I hope you all haven’t died from the homework load yet. As you can quite obviously tell, we have a new student. His name is Alex Sol. I hope you can welcome him.”

She turned to the board. “Alright, where were we again?” she paused, thinking about yesterday, “right! Continuing on yesterday’s lesson, we’ll be learning one of the simplest spells, wind ball. Yes, I know, it’s a very creative name. I also know how you all are a bit upset at learning that the first year S-Ranks learning tornado, but please keep in mind that you aren’t ready for it yet. At least it’s better than theorizing about spells, am I right? As I was saying, I’m going to be teaching you control, not power. When you have more control over your opponent, you have a better advantage. Now then, shall we begin?”

She walked around the desks, “now, think about it. Visualize the wind, call upon its power. You are the user of the element, but you must listen to its rules. Form it into a ball shape, slowly. Allow the wind’s song to guide you, but don’t let it overwhelm you. I warn you all to not drown in its power.”

Aelfdene had closed his eyes, concentrating as he slowly formed the spell. He could do it much faster, but he found it fun to interact with the wind element. Now that he had to pretend to be a beginner, he could finally ‘talk’ to the element. It had a personality like Rai, quiet and intelligent, but without and manipulation in it. It was kind too.

Ms. Vatria was still talking too, “you see it, don’t you? Now, slowly open your eyes after you get a good mental image of it. Don’t break your concentration.”

A wave of gasps rippled from the class as they opened their eyes, and to their astonishment, they saw the spell floating in their hands. Aelfdene slowly opened his eyes to the wind ball, floating in his palm. It was about the size of a basketball. The average, Aelfdene guessed after taking a short glance, was around a volleyball. Aelfdene did notice an anomaly, a student whose spell had been larger than Aelfdene’s.

“You see? That’s what you can do. Over the days,” she closed her eyes as a wind ball formed in her hand, and she manipulated it to do many tricks, “you’ll learn how to do this. Remember, control is key. Don’t worry about having power, as once you master control, you can achieve power. Besides, control means you can have more stealth. Trust me, you’ll be grateful for this later on.”

The class nodded along, their attention enraptured. The only sound that could be heard was her voice. “Okay, keep on practicing. I want you to try and make your spell go around in a circle. Trust me, it’s much harder than it looks…”

The teacher talked on and on, the students following her instructions. The rest of the period had everyone captivated. When the bell rang, most everyone jumped, having not anticipated the sound. “Ah, I suppose that’s the end of this class. Well then, have a great day everyone!” she told them, waving them goodbye.

Aelfdene got up and walked out of the room. Next up was Combat Training. Aelfdene didn’t quite know why, but he had a bad feeling about that.


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, but I'll make it up in the next chapter.

Aelfdene walked into the Combat Training classroom, though it looked more like an arena. He looked around at his classmates. He probably would be with these classmates for a while, as they were near the middle of C-Ranks, so most people wouldn’t change ranks as quickly. With a total of two thousand students in the high school, a high number, and 1,200 people in just C-Rank alone, you could get how it was hard to move up or down in the middle of it. Aelfdene was in the middle. He was in 900th place. 600 away from B-Rank and 600 away from D-Rank.

A man with dark red hair welcomed them. “Hello! If you don’t already know, my name is Mr. Draniov. As today is Monday, we’ll be using weapons,” a chorus of groans broke out, “no need to be so upset, okay? Just because you can’t comfortably use the weapon you want to doesn’t mean you should be so dejected. Anyways, I’ll have Mr. Fierani help you guys get situated as I help out your new classmate.”

Mr. Draniov walked over. “So, you must be Alex then?

Aelfdene nodded.

He smiled, “fantastic! Well then, I’ll get you situated.” He looked him up and down. “Have you ever used a weapon before?”

Aelfdene thought about it. “Well, yes, I have. I’ve used a scythe before. I’m quite comfortable with it, actually.”

Mr. Draniov looked at him, “that’s what everyone says. Have you actually used a scythe before?”

“Yes, I have. I can prove it if you would like.”

Mr. Draniov shook his head. “No, if you’re that confident, I suppose I should believe you. If you would like, though, I would like to see what your form is,” he pointed towards an array of weapons, as a scythe glittered in the light, at the very back, “that’s where it is.”

Aelfdene nodded, making his way over. He picked up the scythe, getting a feel for it. Walking over to the training area, where a training dummy was, he took a deep breath. Concentrate. Control your breathing. Lose yourself in it. Lose control over yourself, but still keep enough of a mind to keep yourself in check, he thought to himself. He let his body do the work, magic unconsciously flowing through his body, supporting him. He let himself go. 

Only Mr. Draniov’s voice broke him from his trance. “I see you’ve become accustomed to using a scythe. That’s nice to know. It’s clear you’re no beginner. How long have you been using a scythe, anyways?”

Aelfdene stilled, “awhile. I’ve been using a scythe for awhile.” 

Mr. Draniov accepted that answer, “Quite obviously. I’ve never seen such good form, except from experts. I think I’ll be teaching you how to use a different weapon, instead. Sorry, but there’s really nothing I can teach you there.”

Aelfdene agreed. “How about daggers?” he suggested.

Mr. Draniov smiled at him, “great decision! I think we can get working on that, instead.”

Aelfdene walked back over to where the weapons were located, carefully setting the scythe back to where it belonged. Aelfdene felt idiotic. “I knew I shouldn’t have done that…” he whispered to himself, as he picked out a promising dagger. He walked back towards where he originally was.

He held the dagger in his hand, then slipped his fingers to the blade. He toyed with it unconsciously. He was used to the uneven weight of a scythe, the blade on one side pulling down on him. He was used to using magic to compensate for the uneven weight, but now he doesn't have to. The blade was even in his hands, a comfortable feeling. It was easy on his frail body, without even damaging his speed.

It was a weapon used for death. Aelfdene used his scythe, as it generally brought more fear into them. Small weapons weren’t very showy, but Aelfdene understood that those were generally better for assassination. One person to die. That was usually way Aelfdene did, so if he learned how to use daggers accurately, he could use that to his advantage. 

Aelfdene glanced down. He should probably get more used to using one first. He glanced around, looking at all the people around him working on the weapon of their choosing. How long had they been using them? A month? Or more? He could see their fluid motion, which contradicted the time that they had little practice within using this. They’ve used these weapons for only a month, so why?

Aelfdene shook his head. He shouldn’t let himself be distracted. He calmed himself down. Re-tracing his thoughts, he thought about how Arius looked when he used his weapon. Arius, Immortal of Death, often used daggers. He was fluid and quick, and if you let your guard down for just a bit, you would be dead.

Daggers were used for killing.

Aelfdene stilled. Killing. Death. But weren’t all weapons used for that? For killing? For death? He stopped. No. They weren’t. There were ceremonial swords, daggers, and so on. But these daggers, daggers used on the battlefield were for killing. Why did Aelfdene choose this anyways? Was this-

Aelfdene shook his head. “Stop it, you idiot. You’re just making this worse,” he told himself. He really needed to stop doing that. Whenever he let his thoughts run free, it never ended well. He would often think too hard or too much. It would end up with him someone questioning himself again, and he really didn’t need that. Aelfdene often wondered what it was like in a normal person’s mind, where they didn’t have to worry about the things Aelfdene worried about. Would it be better, or worse?

Aelfdene supposed it depended. He returned his focus back to the dagger. What was he supposed to practice? He looked around awkwardly. 

As it turned out, class was almost ending anyways. He exhaled in relief. He was ready to walk out when Mr. Draniov called out, “don’t forget about preparing for the tournament!”

Aelfdene was confused. What tournament? As far as he knew there was no tournament. Unless August had forgotten to tell him something? He scowled. August was going to be interrogated by him soon enough. 

Aelfdene shook his head. “This really is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”


	12. The End of a Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End of Arc 1.

It was the last subject of the day before the school day ended. Mastering other elements. Most mages learned how to use other elements in their endeavors. Although, in this school, they didn’t teach death magic. It did make sense, as death magic was primarily composed of, well, death. They didn’t want random students accidentally… unaliving people.

Aelfdene, being in the wind class, was the most versatile. Most of the elements worked well with wind. Wind didn’t necessarily have a huge weakness, except for the lack of power. Tornado was a powerful movie, but it wasn’t always the best. It’s huge, and the user can’t always control how they make it. It wasn’t a good attack when fighting near teams.

Wind was mainly a support class, but if the user had enough control, it would be deadly. But it required a large amount of control. Most wind users never reached that amount of control, and instead opted for using either water or fire. Some embraced being a support class, learning water and sometimes life magic along with it. 

Fire was rarer. It required even more control than wind did, but it contained a lot of power. They were good for dealing large amounts of damage, but people with the fire affinity couldn’t learn much different magic. It was hard for them for anything besides wind and light.

Water users worked well with earth, especially in the subclass of plants. They can be healers, but most often also like to go for the damage route. Water dealt a lot of damage slowly. Often, a good strategy would be to trap someone in a water prison, and then cast water ball at them until they forfeited.

Earth users were fairly common too. These were more for defensive users, though Aelfdene did know a couple of earth users who strategized and made traps. Earth users, as said before, worked well with water. To be honest, most couldn’t have both parts of the ‘earth’ element, as it was… a relatively broad topic. That’s why, while Jax was known as the Immortal of Earth, there was also Amaranth, the Immortal of Plants. Jax was skilled at the ground part of earth, a master, but he couldn’t quite grasp the concept of plant magic. The same was for Amaranth.

August, as described before, was a perfect balance of ground and plants. He also possessed a talent in darkness. August was powerful, certainly. He was as powerful as an Ancient Immortal, but the thing holding him back was the fact that he… wasn’t exactly a good person. Right now though, he wasn’t about to go in-depth on how he met him. That, he mused, was a tale for later. But August was acting odd. He, in the classroom, his personality, that was him. So then, why did August act the way he did with Aelfdene?

Aelfdene stilled.

“So that’s why. It… makes sense,” Aelfdene murmured. He looked up as the bell rang. “Oh, shoot, I’m going to be late…”

It was a miracle that Aelfdene managed to make it on time. As he sprinted up the stairs, (the classroom was on the second floor), and skidded into the room, the final bell rang. The teacher looked up at him, “nice to see that our new student arrived.” She sighed, facing the class, “settle down, all of you. I know that the S-Ranks are upset that they have to be in the same class as all of the other ranks, but it’s been a month, for Aelfdene’s sake.”

Aelfdene choked.

The teacher ignored his obvious peril, “we’re trying to incorporate a bonding so that less of superiority complex will fall upon you, but I see that’s not working well. Besides, this isn’t the element you have an affinity for. No matter who you are, it’ll just as hard for you to start the magic like anyone else. So unless your name is Aelfdene,”

Aelfdene burst out in a coughing fit, but it seemed as if no one had noticed. Somehow.

“Anyways, my name is Mrs. Verenia. Alex, you can go sit next to Jake. You know, the one with the brown hair, in the corner?”

Aelfdene nodded. He made his way towards the back, ignoring the whispers and laughter. It wasn’t necessarily directed at him, but he felt as though he was walking into the lion’s den. He calmly sat down in the seat next to him, as that was the only seat available. Jake glared at him.

“Listen, I don’t know why she would let some C-Rank sit with us S-Ranks, but just remember that you don’t belong here, alright? We’re more powerful than you, so you should better keep your mouth shut,” he whispered furiously at Aelfdene.

“Probably, it’s because this is the only open seat,” Aelfdene replied, “now if you don’t mind me, I’m going to be listening to what she says.”

“Of course you will. Because you’re just so weak that you can’t even understand what she’s saying,” Jake muttered back.

Aelfdene rolled his eyes, depleted of his patience. Arrogance always annoyed him, and Jake was the very definition of arrogance. As an S-Rank, he had most likely been treated with the utmost respect, so Aelfdene not cowering in fear probably aggravated him. Aelfdene listened in to what the teacher was saying.

“Alright class, so far we’ve been studying fire, and I feel as though everyone is prepared for the first spell of fire, flare.” Ms. Verenia closed her eyes, concentrating. A small fire flickered, as it eventually gained itself and, well, flared brighter. “It’s fire. Simple as that. Useful in a survival situation.”

The class nodded, with only a few groans and mumbles. “Fantastic. Now then, you can practice,” she announced to the class.

The class began practicing, and Ms. Verenia walked towards Aelfdene. “Alex? Come over here,” she told him.

Aelfdene nodded, walking towards her.

“How good are you with your magic? I know you were with your uncle, Adrian, for a while. Did he teach you any magic?” She asked.

Aelfdene thought about it for a moment. If he told her yes, then wouldn’t that make an easy excuse for how he could use the other elements well? Of course, that wouldn’t explain earth, as wind users were typically horrible at earth. If he told her no, then… Aelfdene made up his mind. “Yeah, he did.”

She nodded, “then you already know this?”

“Yes. I’ve already learned this,” he answered.

“Then would you like me to teach you after classes?”

Aelfdene shook his head. “I think I would need a little review. I’m not that good, you know.”

“Alright. Talk to me if you want me to teach you.” She walked away.

Aelfdene sat back down, and for the rest of the class, practiced, while ignoring Jake’s taunts.

He got up when the bell rang, preparing to leave when Jake’s shout brought him back from leaving.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jake asked, dangerously.

“...Outside the classroom? Where else?” Aelfdene asked.

Jake scowled. “You’ve been mocking this entire class. Do you think I’m some sort of joke?”

Aelfdene slowly backed away towards the windows. They were open. Aelfdene smiled.

Perfect.

“No, I don’t think you are. Now if you don’t mind me, I’ll get going,” he responded calmly.

“I won’t let you,” Jake responded firmly.

Aelfdene raised an eyebrow, “well… if that’s the way it is, then I won’t feel too bad about this.” He put his feet out, sitting on the ledge. “See you!” Aelfdene shouted, pushing himself off. He landed perfectly, without a scratch, and calmly ignored all of the stares, as if absolutely nothing had happened.

...He was acting like August again, wasn’t he? Jumping out of windows and everything. Just without the two faces.

Aelfdene knew August wasn’t lying about changing, but he also knew that August still was manipulative. The August he talked to, the first time he met him before he revealed the truth, and then after he had revealed who he was, they were the same. Yet they also weren’t.

August was manipulative, and a liar, but he also was a kind and caring person. The thing was that August only showed that side of him to Aelfdene.

It was almost as if he was trying to hide something.

Aelfdene shrugged. He knew not to intrude or confront August, as it would only make it worse. August wasn’t Aelfdene. He would know that he had to talk to someone, instead of bottling everything up.

**August wasn’t Aelfdene.**

**Unlike Aelfdene, he would take care of himself. **

“Hey, you alright?” a voice interrupted his thoughts. It wasn’t anyone he knew, and it certainly wasn't August. He looked up.

“Oh, yeah, I do that often. Sorry if I surprised you or anything,” Aelfdene responded.

The boy nodded, before his eyes widened, “you must be Alex then! Welcome to Blueridge, where every S-Rank believes they’re superior to everyone below them. My name’s Kace.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Aelfdene looked at him awkwardly, “but you do realize not every S-Rank is that bad.”

Kace nodded, “yeah, well most are. I know the Legendary Ten are pretty nice, just powerful too. ‘A’ has been acting weird too, and so has Ryan. Odd, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… odd,” Aelfdene replied, his voice not squeaking at the end.

“Yeah,” Kace’s eyes brightened, “do you wanna hang out with me?” He looked a bit nervous, “I haven’t been able to make many friends, as my reputation… it wasn’t exactly the best.”

Aelfdene waved his hand languidly, “don’t worry about that. You can hang out with us. Besides, I have Ryan and August in my friend group.”

Kace’s eyes widened, but he accepted anyway.

It was the beginning of a great friendship.

It had been a week since then, his first week. Between Jake’s scowling, Damian’s whining, Liam’s suffering, Kace’s super helpful comments, Ryan being confused, and August’s teasing, it had passed by quickly.

Aelfdene currently sat at a bench, minding his own business. School had been fun, and Aelfdene was enjoying it. Life had been good. He had managed to keep his secret from those he wanted to, such as Asher. He didn’t think he would be able to handle Asher’s disappointed look or the consequences of his disappearance. Aelfdene was too much of a coward to think about what would happen.

Aelfdene cleared those thoughts away. After all, he was fine.

Everything was alright. Aelfdene shouldn’t worry.

**Life was good.**

A voice broke him out of his thoughts like it had done many times. “Hey, you coming?” Kace had called out, with August, Ryan, Damian, and Liam trailing behind.

Aelfdene smiled, “yeah, hold up.”

He jogged towards them, and August’s arm draped onto his shoulder. “Onwards! Let’s go, crew. Follow the captain,” August told them.

“Why are you the captain?” Kace grumbled.

“Because.”

“That’s not an answer!” Kace huffed, annoyed.

Aelfdene couldn’t help it. He started laughing. A full-blown laugh, something he hadn’t done for a long time. He didn’t know what was so funny, yet he still laughed.

It felt good.

Ignoring his friends’ shell-shocked faces, he turned to August, “Let’s get going, shall we?”

He could really get used to this.

***

“Is it ready?” A deep voice asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Perfect. They’ll never know what hit them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this being so late!
> 
> I'm taking a short break, and the next chapter will be published within two weeks.
> 
> Thanks for reading this!


	13. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back! As an apology for the (maybe late) chapter, it's a bit longer than usual!

It was a peaceful day outside. Birds were chirping, children were playing, friends were laughing, flowers were blooming, and everything was peaceful. Almost perfect. It was warm and sunny. Most everyone was outside.

Nothing could go wrong on a day such as this, right?

When Aelfdene awoke, he heard Liam’s whines for Damian to get up. After getting dressed, he walked over to the problem Liam was facing. “What’s wrong?” Aelfdene asked.

“Damian won’t get his lazy butt up!” Liam groaned, aggravated.

“...Liam, it’s 7 A.M. Cut him a little slack, why don’t you?” Aelfdene reminded him.

“You’re up.”

“That’s not an excuse, Liam. Just wake him up at 9 or something. I’ll get going, if you don’t mind me,” Aelfdene told him.

“Where are you going at 7?” Liam asked.

“August’s place. He told me to wait for him by his dorm room.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll see you later then,” Liam waved goodbye.

“See you!” Aelfdene called back as he exited his dorm room.

Aelfdene first noticed that it was warm outside, which was nice. The sun had risen, and the dew was still visible, glimmering like jewels as the sunlight cast its light upon them. Aelfdene breathed in deeply, taking a breath of fresh air.

“Right… now then, where is August’s room again?” Aelfdene asked himself. It was odd. August didn’t even tell him where his room was as if he had just expected Aelfdene to know. He walked further out into the hallway. 

Aelfdene shook his head, desperately wishing he had August’s number. He could just sense his aura, but that would be hard to pinpoint-

“Heya, Alex!” August’s voice echoed throughout the hallway.

“Where were you?” Aelfdene asked.

“Uh… somewhere?” August scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, uh, sorry about not telling you where I lived, but I remembered where your dorm was-”

“August, I never told you where my dorm room was.”

A pause.

“Well, I know where Liam and Damian’s dorm was, so when I heard you were rooming with them-” August stopped himself as if he had said something he didn’t mean to. “I mean-”

Aelfdene shook his head, “it’s fine, August. Don’t worry about it. I know.”

August stopped, “you know? What do you exactly know,  **Aelfdene** ?”

“You know what I mean when I say I know, August. Please don’t make this conversation more confusing than it already has become.”

August looked away, “well, that’s nice to know. Sorry about, you know, lying. I know you hate liars.”

Aelfdene cocked his head to the right, “August, I don’t mean you. I meant- I meant people who don’t keep their promises-”

“I don’t keep my promises,” August responded.

“Well, I mean like when-”

“Aelfdene, please, I know what you're trying to do, and while I appreciate it-” August was cut off.

“August, you of all people know what I mean!” Aelfdene shouted. He didn’t hate August. In fact, it was quite the opposite. August was a great friend of Aelfdene’s, and he didn’t know what he would do without him.

He didn’t want to think about that possibility either.

August was Aelfdene’s one connection to this world; the only person who knew truly who he was. Aelfdene didn’t want to even attempt to reveal his identity to the others yet. He didn’t know how they would react in the first place anyways. 

**He didn’t want to think about it** .

“...you’re my friend, August, okay? I don’t- I don’t want you thinking that I hate you. I don’t, August, I don’t,” Aelfdene stuttered out.

He didn’t realize August was hurting so bad, but then again, Aelfdene wasn’t ever good at reading emotions. He was better at other things, like hiding them.

“…you really don’t mind?” August asked timidly, something so unlike his usual behavior, it took Aelfdene a moment to realize that this was actually August.

“No.”

And those very words might’ve broken the dam on August’s emotions, and he let himself go for the first time.

August composed himself in record time. It was astounding to Aelfdene how fast August could switch moods. In just a few minutes, August was smiling again. It was a watery smile, wavering slightly, yet it was real. 

Aelfdene smiled back.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“...yeah. Thanks, Aelfdene,” August responded. He looked away. “Sorry. You know, about…”

Aelfdene shook his head. “August, it’s fine. I should’ve known.” He looked again at August. It was clear August didn’t want to continue the conversation on that topic. “Anyways, why did you want to meet me?”

August grimaced. “Ah… well, I’ve received… word, of, erm, how should I put this?”

“August, just spit it out already.”

“Something is going to happen and you’re not going to like it!” August blurted out.

“Great. Just what I wanted! How could you possibly know?” Aelfdene smiled, despite desperately wishing to slam his head into the wall.

“Are you alright?” A new voice interrupted him. He had black hair and piercing grey eyes as if they stared into his very soul.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, did we wake you up?” Aelfdene asked though he was panicking inside. How much had he heard?

“Oh, no. I’m just out for my morning jog.”

“At 7? Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t particularly like to talk to people,” he responded.

“Makes sense,” Aelfdene turned back to August, “want to go grab something to eat? I think I’d like to talk this over some food.”

August nodded, “sure. Let’s go, shall we?”

A short walk later, and they were seated at a table, eating breakfast while pointedly avoiding the topic that was at hand.

“August, would you care to explain to me what you were talking about before we were interrupted?”

“Well, you see, I’ve received word that… erm, how do I put this? Someone’s trying to, well, take over the world?” August questioned, his voice pitching up at the end.

“Okay, is that a question or…?” Aelfdene asked.

“It’s what they said! They said “he’s trying to take over the… world?” in a really confused voice! What was I supposed to think, Ael-”

Aelfdene kicked him.

“Ow! Could you not? My leg could break!” August said.

Aelfdene stared at him, not a shred of remorse visible in his eyes. 

“Wow, I see how it is. Anyways, that’s what they said, Alex. How was I supposed to interpret that?”

Aelfdene shrugged. “I don’t know, but what I do care about is if they’re a threat.”

“Like, if anyone’s in danger?” August asked.

“Yeah. Like if anyone’s in danger,” Aelfdene agreed.

“Well,” August looked away, “I don’t really know.”

“What? What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t it obvious? Like, just check their plans or something.”

“You think they would just leave their plans out for me to see? No one works that sloppily. What’s worse, I couldn’t even hack into their computers,” August huffed.

“Oh no. You couldn’t hack.”

“Yeah- Wait, hold up,” August stopped.

“Hm?”

“Do you even know what I’m talking about?” August asked.

“Sort of? It’s a bit confusing, but I did get an update on the entirety of this world, so I do know what hacking is, and other stuff.”

“Stuff,” August commented.

“Oh, shut up, why don’t you?”

August gave him a look, “oh? I thought you wanted me to talk?”

“When did I ever say that?”

“You wound me.”

“Good,” Aelfdene commented.

“You know, your kick hurt less than that,” August pouted.

“...what?”

“Like, your kick was really weak, for someone like,” August looked at Aelfdene for a moment, “...nevermIND! I didn’t say anything.”

“Good.”

“I’m scared of you.”

Aelfdene raised an eyebrow. “Now then, back at the topic of hand, do you know who they are?”

August shook his head. “Nope.”

“How do you even know then?”

“It was a recording of someone maniacally laughing, then proclaiming how they’ll take over the world, with a question mark,” August responded.

“You absolutely sure that that’s real? Have you heard how many times people have threatened to kill each other here? It’s commonplace, because no one’s actually going to murder someone. Because, you know, that’s illegal,” Aelfdene told him.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. August, don’t take everything seriously,” Aelfdene reminded him.

“Alright, but if something happens, just let me say that I called it.”

And with those words, August got up and left the cafeteria, leaving Aelfdene alone with his thoughts.

“Perhaps,” Aelfdene mused, “August could be correct.”

At a more reasonable time, his friend group had reconvened, deciding to hang out for the rest of the day. Ryan couldn’t come as his parents asked him to go back home, for some reason.

Aelfdene didn’t think ‘asked’ was a very good term, but that was what Ryan used.

It was a tad unsettling.

The teachers, surprisingly, hadn’t given out and homework, so the rest of them were free for the weekend.

“So, Alex, where are we going?” Kace asked, somewhat similar to a puppy.

“...Did you know I have no idea? I’m just following August,” Aelfdene responded.

“Oh,” Kace looked at August, “do  _ you _ know where we’re going?”

“Ice cream shop! Might as well eat ice cream while we still can, before it gets cold, you know?” August responded. Noticing Kace’s look, August said “don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. I’m bringing you all along after all.”

Kace beamed, then turned to Liam and Damian, “isn’t this awesome?”

“Yeah. You know, August?” Damian turned towards him, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I realized that I always thought of you as a bad guy, but it seems like I was wrong. I’m… I’m sorry.”

August’s eyes widened. “Ah, no! It’s fine. I know the reputation I made for myself isn’t exactly the best, you know? I’m used to it,” he looked away, “but if it makes you feel better, I accept your apology.”

Damian grinned, “thanks!”

August smiled back. “Now then,” he turned backward, still walking, “what are your favorite flavors?”

Kace’s eyes brightened, “well, I enjoy mint chocolate chip! Ooh, but cookies and cream is such a good flavor too! And…”

Aelfdene tuned him out, but Damian pushed Kace.

“Damian!” Liam cried, annoyed, “don’t just push people! It’s rude.”

“He wasn’t going to shut up until our ears fell off, Liam!” Damian whined.

“That doesn’t give you the right to push him!” Liam told him.

Kace got closer to Aelfdene. “Oh Aelfdene, they’re going at again,” Kace said as Damian and Liam began bickering.

Aelfdene hadn’t gotten exactly used to people swearing with his name, but he was getting there. Definitely. Completely. He totally did not trip when Kace said his name. Not at all. However, there was a question that had been in his mind for the last few days.

“How come people swear by Aelfdene’s name?” he asked Kace.

“Oh, that? I suppose it's because he’s like a myth, y’know? Doesn’t really feel real. After all, he hasn’t shown up, in, well, forever! Aelfdene doesn’t feel much like an immortal and more so a legend. What we all can aspire to be. Like, I know he’s alive and all, but we haven’t seen him at all, so he doesn’t feel very real,” Kace responded.

“Huh,” Aelfdene mused, “makes sense.”

Kace stared, “ya think so? That was just me spewing off some nonsense. I don’t know quite how you understood it.”

“Well, it’s like you said, right? How he doesn’t feel quite real. Like a fairytale, or The Heroes of Old.”

“The Heroes of Old? Who are they?” Kace asked.

“Oh, they were heroes from back then. Saved the world a couple of times. They were pretty much immortals, except for the key fact that they could die. We- they, I mean, offered The Heroes of Old immortality, but they refused,” Aelfdene told him, lost in memories

“Huh? Why would someone not want immortality?”

“It was because they didn’t want to live forever. Watch their mortal friends grow old and… and eventually die. They wanted to live life as it was given,” Aelfdene commented wistfully.

“You sound like you knew them,” an unknown voice accused from behind him.

“Huh?” Aelfdene whirled around and was met with two people.

Lucas Veles accusative stare seemed as though it was trying to see through his lies, while Azarius simply gazed impassively at him, from behind Lucas.

“I said, it sounds like you knew them,” Lucas repeated. 

“Oh?” Aelfdene responded, “and how’s that?”

“I quote, “They wanted to live life as it was given.” All legends of The Heroes of Old were never about them denying immortality, or even mentioning such a fact. How do you know about such a thing?” Lucas seemed to have hit had an epiphany, “in fact, why did you slip when talking about who gave immortality? You said ‘we,’ then changed it to ‘they.’ How come?”

Aelfdene smiled cooly, though he was panicking on the inside. However, Aelfdene wasn’t planning to let his facade drop anytime soon. He didn’t want anyone to know, and it wasn’t like Lucas thought he  **was ** Aelfdene. Just that he was suspicious.

Right?

“Listen, Lucas, are you really trying to interrogate Alex of all people? C’mon, there’s nothing wrong with him. I thought you had more sense than this,” Damian stepped in.

Lucas raised his eyebrow, “really, Damian, you think that? Are you truly sure about that?”

Damian laughed bitterly, “Lucas, I know. Alex’s a good guy, no matter how you put him. I’m not making the same mistake as last time.”

“Last time?” Aelfdene asked.

Damian shook his head, “it’s nothing. I was just an idiot back then.”

“You’re saying you’re not one now?” Liam quipped.

Damian smiled, and it broke the tension around the group. Aelfdene didn’t know a time he was more grateful for Damian, but he was glad that Damian had saved him. If only August was here-

“Wait a second. Where is August? And now that I’m asking this, where’s Kace?” Liam questioned.

“Kace?” Lucas noted, well-hidden disdain in his voice.

Damian pointedly ignored Lucas, “Kace and August? I think they went off a while ago.”

As if on cue, August and Kace arrived, somehow holding five ice creams. Damian and Liam took their favorite flavors while Aelfdene simply took the most simple looking one. Just plain vanilla ice cream. Kace then seemed to notice Lucas.

“Lucas,” Kace curtly greeted.

“Kace,” Lucas said back.

The tense atmosphere was back tenfold. Someone coughed. It stretched almost for minutes, Kace calmly meeting Lucas’ gaze. 

It was agony.

Azarius tapped Lucas, “don’t we have places to go? It’s way too early for this.”

“No,” Lucas snarled, “you know what you did, don’t you? Kace, you know what you are. You know what you did. Why don’t you tell them?”

Kace looked away, ashamed, “it wasn’t my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault? It wasn’t YOUR fault? Are you kidding me? I saw it! I saw it with my two eyes, and you’re trying to lie to me!” Lucas yelled.

“I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want to do that- I- I-” Kace hiccuped, “I didn’t mean it…”

“Yeah? Well it’s too late.”

Aelfdene felt anger. And yet, he didn’t move. Didn’t make a sound. Didn’t do anything. He didn’t do anything.

He just watched.

Because Aelfdene understood both sides. Kace had done something horrible when he wasn’t in the right state of mind, and Lucas had been affected by this. Lucas was angry, furious even, and Kace was ashamed. 

But was it right to just stand there? Was it right to just watch? Aelfdene… Aelfdene always waited. He always waited and watched to make sure he wasn’t making a mistake. But what if that was his mistake? What if… what if waiting was his mistake?

He stepped in between them, “listen. I don’t know why you’re so upset with Kace, but I think you need to know that everyone makes mistakes.”

Lucas opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Aelfdene cut him off.

“You’ve probably heard this way too many times. But that’s because it’s true. Everyone makes mistakes, some large, some tiny, insignificant. And sometimes, people regret those mistakes. Regret what they did. And sometimes, it’s too late. It’s too late to regret. But it’s never too late to forgive.” Aelfdene looked at Kace, “and it’s never too late to say sorry. Because sometimes, all they want is an apology.”

“But I’ve already given apologies! I’ve said sorry over and over!” Kace yelled, “what more could he possibly want?”

Lucas scoffed, “as if saying ‘sorry’ would change anything, Kace. You know what you did. Accident or not, it’s not me you should be apologizing to.” Lucas pushed Azarius forward.

“It’s me,” Azarius spoke softly, his voice and face the same as ever: impassive.

Kace flinched, as if he had been burned, he opened and closed his mouth, as if deciding over what to say, before he broke. “I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean it! I should’ve controlled myself better,” he sobbed, “it’s all my fault…”

Azarius walked over and pat Kace on the head, sort of like how a human would pat a dog, “it’s alright.”

Lucas walked next to Azarius, “well, if he’s accepted it, then…Welcome back, Kace.”

Kace beamed, managing to fling his emotions right back into being happy, “thanks you guys.” He then playfully glared at August, Liam, and Damian, “except for you. You guys didn’t even do anything!”

“Hey! I did something, alright?” Damian huffed.

“I was just eating my ice cream, “August shrugged.

“I don’t know how to deal with people besides Damian,” Liam commented.

Aelfdene began eating his ice cream. “Let’s just finish our ice cream and enjoy this day, alright?”

“Agreed,” August said.

They walked around a bit, chatting with each other, as Damian, Liam, August, Kace, and Aelfdene finished their ice creams.

Aelfdene smiled at a joke, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

***

**“Is it set up?” the man asked.**

**“Yes.”**

**“And the boy?” he questioned.**

**“Which one?”**

**“Which one?” he laughed, “Isn’t it obvious? The one I was talking about before.”**

**“He’s with friends right now.”**

**The man cursed, “get him alone then! I don’t care what you do, just get him! We need him for this plan to work!”**

**“Why him? Why not anyone else?”**

**“Don’t question me,” the man growled.**

**“Alright.”**

***

Aelfdene quickly got lost. He had accidentally gotten lost and hadn’t bothered to search for the others. He was an immortal, after all. He wandered around town, looking at everything, occasionally stopping to greet someone he recognized.

He hadn’t noticed until it was too late.

Perhaps Aelfdene should’ve been wary of the person with a mask. Perhaps Aelfdene should’ve been more careful. Instead, he just ignored them.

That is, until he ran into a dead end.

He turned around. The person was still following him.

Before he could ask anything, the person had already spoken, “are you Alex Sol?”

“Depends on who’s asking,” he replied.

“So you are Alex Sol.”

“And what do you want from him? “Aelfdene replied, backing away.

“Oh, nothing much. Just,” the person teleported behind him.

Aelfdene whirled around, reacting to the person’s teleportation by casting an ice spell to impale him. Not fatally, just in the leg. 

At least, he attempted to. “What in the world?” he questioned, after failing to cast anything.

“A precaution well put,” the person mumbled to themselves. They put their hand on him, and then all he could see was darkness.

Outside, the world erupted into pandemonium.


	14. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August's POV

August Nightshade was concerned.

Aelfdene had vanished, which wouldn’t be much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that chaos had erupted onto the streets. Monsters that seemed like they had come from gates- but that was impossible, wasn’t it?

And for the fact that Aelfdene, well, Alex, or at least someone scarily close looking to him, was knocked out, in the arms of the man who seemed to be the leader of the attack. August was going to take a closer look, but someone grabbed his arm before he could.

“What are you doing, August? We have to get going!” Damian shouted at him, narrowly missing a swipe from a monster. He countered by driving a spike, made out of stone, straight through the monster’s abdomen. Damian grimaced as it oozed out a strange green liquid, then seemed to realize something. “What the… that’s not how blood supposed to look, right?”

August shook his head, “no. Monsters from the gates usually bleed out black blood however, more powerful monsters bleed a sickening deep violet color. I’ve never... I’ve never heard of any monster from the gate bleeding out this green, er, stuff.”

“Stop sitting around!” Liam yelled at them, “we have to get going! No matter our power, there’s absolutely no way that we can beat all of them! There’s too many!”

August grit his teeth, “I don’t care! Alex is back there!”

Liam stopped, “what.”

“Yeah, I’m fairly certain I saw him back there,” August quickly responded, cursing as he saw another horde of monsters approaching them.

“We can’t go back though! We need to tell the teachers. I’m sure they can help out more than us,” Liam remained the voice of reason, despite August, who was usually calm and collected, panicking.

“Then why haven’t they come yet?” August asked.

“I’m certain it’s because the school is too busy trying to protect the students inside the school. I don’t think-”

“Liam, that makes absolutely no sense. There are definitely students here, so why aren’t they coming? Unless…” August realized something, “unless they know who went out. They can monitor that sort of stuff, and they definitely know our friend groups. They knew who hung out with who.”

Liam nodded his head, lowering his voice, as Damian and Kace fought viciously, tearing into the monsters as if they were paper, with August and Liam providing support from the back, “it’s not a well-known fact, but most students below B-Rank have someone to protect them when they go outside.”

“Really?” August asked, surprised.

“Yeah. If they’re with someone B-Rank and above, no one comes with them. It’s after an incident in which a C-Rank was kidnapped in town and used as a hostage in an attempt to blackmail the school. The school felt responsible,” Liam told him.

“So the reason no one’s coming is because the weaker students have already been rescued, and Alex was with us, S-Ranks. So they thought they he was safe,” August continued.

“Therefore, the best thing we can do is run and alert the school of Alex’s kidnapping,” Liam finished.

August narrowed his eyes, “then you guys leave and tell the teachers. I’ll try and save Alex.”

“Don’t play the hero, August,” Liam reminded him.

August shook his head, “have you forgotten who I am, Liam?” 

“...Do you really think you can get him?” Liam asked.

“Liam, just get going. I can handle it from here,” August insisted.

“Alright,” Liam said, “just don’t get yourself killed, alright?”

August laughed, “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

Liam turned away, “let’s get going, guys. We have to tell the teachers.” His voice left no room for argument. Even Damian, who looked like he wanted to protest, was silenced with a glare. “Let’s get going.” They nodded, and then made off running, making use of time. The faster they got there, the better.

Now August was truly alone. And yet August wasn’t afraid. No, not at all. For the first time in a while, he could finally be himself. Maybe just for a little bit.

He grinned.

It was a malicious grin, full of danger and death. His powers, the ability to wield both plants and the ground, in sync, may not have seemed quite dangerous. But that meant that as long as August was near the ground, he’d always be at an advantage.

But August still had a goal, and he had a better mind than to not be wary. They had managed to knock out Aelfdene, of all people, which meant he either wasn’t paying attention or had underestimated them. Perhaps a mixture of both.

August hopped onto the roof of a building, making his way to where he saw Aelfdene. It seemed as if they both were still there. But why?

August grew more cautious and began making moves even more carefully. Creeping closer, he began to hear voices. “What are we waiting for?” a masked person asked the man.

“I heard something. I think we may have a small bug here,” the man responded.

“I do sense something. Would you like me to get rid of it?”

“Yes.”

And August made his move.

He attacked with precision, making his attacks not lethal, but enough to make a man wish they were dead. He kept his mind calm, even as the mage teleported behind him. For some reason, August felt his strength draining away. He narrowed his eyes, “what did you do?”

The mage only smiled, and it was a sickening sweet smile. One that August had seen many times. He had used that smile too, in the past few centuries that Aelfdene was gone. After all, someone needed to keep the peace.

August attacked with renewed vigor. Even as his strength was slowly sapped, August slowly let go of the tight lock he held onto his power. He couldn’t just use all of his power at once, as he hadn’t been able to find a time where he could train his powers again. He was powerful, and yet he had no control when he unleashed it all.

It frustrated him to no end.

When August finally hit the mage, they disappeared. August cursed. Of course, it was illusion magic. How could he be so blind? There was no other way someone could move with this much strength unless of course, they were immortal. August had completely forgotten about that branch of magic, tied in with the element of darkness.

August looked around, checking again. No one was there. He could use his dual elements without drawing too much suspicion. And so he called upon both powers. To make this plan work, he would have to draw the mage into a false sense of security. But holding back would make him seem odd.

He still limited it to enough that he could still control it, but it was enough. He grinned, and it was a wicked thing. It was time to play his hand.

A spike erupted from the earth, and the mage dodged it. “Is that all you can do?” the mage taunted, trying to aggravate August.

August smiled, “not at all.”

And flame erupted around them, trapping both of them in a ring of fire.

“Sorry, am I late, boss?”

  
August smirked, “not at all. The show’s just about to start.”


	15. Chapter 13

“Of course, you still have your flair for dramatics, boss,” the teen commented.

“I don’t know why you’d think otherwise, Caleb,” August replied. “Oh, and please spare me of wasting any time. We just need to get the man,” he nodded at the man, still holding Aelfdene, without a trace of fear in his expression. Interesting. He was either extremely confident or was faking it.

It was an interesting card game they were planning, but August didn’t intend to lose it.

“Why are you so interested in that guy? And who is he holding- unless,” Caleb trailed off, “unless, you want to save that boy? Why would you- No way.”

“Still intelligent as always. Glad to see that hanging out with Drake has not made you lose any of that.” August also cast vines to hold the mage down, who was still in shock at Caleb. Sure, it might’ve been cheating, two on one, but since when did August play fair?

“So,” Caleb began, lowering his voice, “that’s Aelfdene? I thought you two were enemies of some sort.”

“Oh no, Aelfdene certainly does hate me. I know that for certain. And yet, for some reason, he… revealed his identity to me. I was left to wonder why. We became… friends, of some sort. It was nice. He was caring. It was like he just forgot about his hatred… It was almost like… like he just entirely forgot about what I did…”

“Well, you were the only person Aelfdene told. He probably wanted a friend who knew his true identity. Someone he could trust, you know? And you were the only option available to him, and so he must’ve just forgotten. He probably has a lot on his plate right now. You know him the best, boss. The most I’ve known him is from fighting him, and even then, it wasn’t like he was really trying.”

August looked back at the man, then to Caleb, “we will continue this conversation later, Caleb.”

“Of course,” Caleb smiled deviously, “now, my orders?”

“Our priority is to get Aelfdene. Of course, if you can get the man alive, that would be nice too.”

“What, no killing?” Caleb asked.

August sighed, “I do not think Aelfdene would like that very much. Besides, we need to get information out of him. Now, we cannot exactly kill him, but if we manage to get him, I’ll allow you to get information through any means possible.”

“Any means?”

“Anything besides murder, Caleb, and remember that we need to get him first,” August reminded.

“Of course, boss!” Caleb saluted jokingly. “Now then, what do we do?”

“...I’m not quite sure. It is, after all, my first time doing this whole rescue thing. You do realize you should know that by now?” August softly, at the same time, used his magic to quietly knock out the mage. He sighed. He would have to silence them later.

“Oh. Right.” Caleb looked contemplative for a moment, before yelling out, “hey! Why are you doing all of this in the first place?”

“Really. That’s what you go with?” August hissed.

Caleb shrugged.

Surprisingly, the man responded with, “I was paid to.”

“What?” August asked. “Someone paid you to do all of this?”

“Yes. Just to get this boy,” the man agreed.

August stilled. “Why?”

“I was paid to get him. I don’t ask questions.”

“So you’re telling me,” August paused, “that this was never your plan? That this was all something that someone else planned?”

“Yes. I am their… scapegoat. But I do not plan to be caught so easily.”

“We do not plan to let you go so easily,” August cooly responded.

“Oh?”

“Every exit has been blocked by my... team. You have nowhere to run. Your only option is to come with us.”

“I can kill this boy right here, right now, if you don’t,” the man threatened.

August couldn’t help it. He started laughing. It was genuine laughter, but it wasn’t anything of beauty. “O-oh man, t-that’s a good one! I haven't heard anything so hilarious since that one man told me I would regret killing him!” August took a deep breath, “do it.”

“What?” the man yelped in surprise.

“You heard what I said. Do it. Or,” August paused, wanting to draw out tension, “are you too scared to?”

“Boy, this isn’t a game. This is an actual life! Are you really letting me kill your friend?”

“...friend. How amusing,” he smiled, “you really think he is my friend? How pathetic,” August responded.

“You’re a monster,” the man stated as if it was a simple fact.

“I have been told that often. Now then, tell me why I should let you go.”

The man considered it for a moment. “If you let me go, I’ll tell you something,” the man offered.

“I have other ways of making you sing.”

The man considered that for a moment. “...you didn’t let me finish. If you don’t, I’ll bite down on this pill of poison I’ve kept in my mouth. I’ll die immediately.”

“Oh? You will? Somehow, I doubt it,” August told him.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

August smiled, “I don’t think you would want anything to happen to… what was her name… oh! You wouldn’t want anything to happen to poor Ellie, would you James?”

James’ eyes widened. Checkmate.

“How- how do you know my name? No, nevermind that, how do you know they’re name?” James desperately asked.

“I do not believe you are in the position to ask me questions.”

“I-I’ll do anything!” James’ composure crumbled instantaneously, “just- just don’t hurt them! They know nothing of this!”

“Then you will be coming with us James, with your helper, too,” August nodded to the knocked out mage. “Caleb!” he barked.

“Yes, boss?”

“Get the rest of Team Obsidian with you. Bring them,” he waved towards James and the mage, “back to the base. I think I need to make a reappearance.”

“Boss?”

“Hm?”

“Were you serious about,” he lowered his voice, “Aelfdene?”

“Oh, you mean what I said? That he’s not my friend?” August considered it for a moment, “no, that was just bluff. Besides, it is not as if he could die.”

“What will you do about him then?”

“Oh, Aelfdene’s under a sleeping spell. He will be out for at least four more hours,” August responded. “We will bring him back with us. I will just say that he passed out.”

“What about the others you were with?”

“Damian and the others? I’ll just tell them the kidnapper got away. It was not as if my goal was to get the kidnapper,” August turned around, “anyways, what are you waiting for? We have to get going.”

Caleb nodded, and after a bit, all of Team Obsidian was gathered. “Addison, teleport us back,” August commanded.

“On it.”

And with a flash, they were back at the base. August smiled, one of his many masks dropping, “man, it’s been awhile since I came here hasn’t it?” He glanced back at Aelfdene’s unconscious body, “have someone carry him in and lay him on the couch. We don’t have any beds available.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and bring the captured to the interrogation room. Report back to Caleb when you’re finished, Jack.”

“Of course,” Jack nodded, then used his magic to drag James and the mage.

“Everyone else, get back to what you were doing. Report to me if a problem occurs.”

“Uh, Mr. Nightshade?”

August turned around. There was Conner, a new… intern… that he had hired a couple of months ago. Conner had promising talent. “Oh, Conner. Is there a problem?” August asked.

Conner gulped, “well, Mr. Veronia told me not to tell you, but I think he’s doing something behind your back!”

...Though he still was a bit of a coward. That was fine though. August could work at that. He smiled encouragingly, “oh, don’t worry, I already know. Nevertheless, thank you for telling me, Conner.”

“Of course, mister!” Conner called as he was walking back.

August sighed, “now to deal with my problem...” He walked into Veronia’s office.

Veronia looked up from his desk, “ah, Mr. Nightshade! Do you need anything?

“Mr. Veronia,” he curled his lips into a tight smile, “I do hope you know what you have done.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir.”

“Oh? Care to explain why half the funds for your project just suddenly went missing, then? I’m sure you can come up with some sort of an explanation,” August cooly replied.

“W-well, I-”

“Hm? Cat got your tongue?” August asked.

“Ah, no sir. I’m sorry, I was just in shock for a moment,” Veronia smiled at him, “I wasn’t notified of this.”

“You were not notified? This occurred in  _ your _ department, Mr. Veronia. I did not think I hired someone so incompetent as to have their employees be able to fool them. You check funds daily, so how come you never noticed?”

“Well, you see sir-” August interrupted him.

“Spare me your pointless blabbering. You’re fired,” Veronia’s neck was snapped by a vine and collapsed, dead, on the floor.

He stalked out of the office, noticing Caleb, “hey, Caleb?”

“Yes, boss?”

“You’re promoted. A new vacancy popped up. Just clean up the body,” August informed him.

“Finally. I was wondering when you’d get rid of that nuisance,” Caleb commented. “Anyways, here,” Caleb handed him a folder, “it’s the files from Jack’s interrogation.”

August took the folder, “so? How did it go?”

“As of now, it’s been as we expected with James, though a few interesting things came up. The mage’s name is Madeline.”

“Madeline…?” he prompted.

“No last name.”

“No last name?” August repeated.

“Yes.”

“What? That’s almost, if not, impossible! How does she not have a last name?” August yelped.

“We don’t know, and that’s not the only thing,” Caleb paused, “do you know of anyone named Ryan?”

August stopped, “yes..? How come?”

“He was mentioned, during the interrogation. The man mentioned how the two people that were hiring got into an argument in the other room, and the one thing he could hear was ‘It’s for Ryan’s sake!’ Of course, that could always be a coincidence, but…”

“Aelfdene was Ryan’s first friend. He’s also the closest one to Ryan. Ashley… she must’ve told her parents,” August concluded.

“Yes. Anyways, what should we do with them?”

“The prisoners?”

“Yes.”

“Continue with the interrogation. I’ll let you do the interrogating this time around because I said that you would be able to get information through any means,” August told him.

“And when I’m done?” Caleb asked.

“Silence them.”

“Of course, boss,” Caleb nodded. “Are you going back to the academy?”

“Yes. Inform me if anything odd comes up. I’ll get going now,” August responded.

Addison was waiting at the door, carrying Aelfdene. “Isn’t he heavy?” August asked.

Addison shook her head. “No, he’s light. Here, you try,” she dumped Aelfdene in his arms.

“...wow. He’s really light. What is he even eating?”

Addison shrugged, then took Aelfdene back, “let’s get going. I’ll teleport us near the entrance of the city.”

August nodded, and after a few seconds and a flash of bright light, they were in the city. Addison dropped Aelfdene into August's arms. “Here, you can take him back. Tell them it was a hard fight.”

“No need to tell me how to fool them, Addison,” August sighed. “You can get going now. Thanks for the help, as usual.”

“No problem.”

August put aelfdene down, then conjured a mirror, gazing at his reflection. He didn’t look as if he was in a dangerous fight. August sighed, and pulled out a pocket knife. “It’s a good thing there’s healing magic, or I wouldn’t be doing this…”

A few minutes later, August had successfully roughed himself up. Not too much, of course. He was an S-Rank, and he was known for his schemes, not just brute strength. August wouldn’t just go in rushing, head-first. That was just plain-out idiotic.

“Well, let’s just hope I can play this off right…” August muttered to himself, picking Aelfdene up again, then sprinting towards where the exit should be.

By the time August had gotten to the exit, it was chaos. Until they noticed him, teachers were bickering amongst each other, parents furious, and mages were rushing in and out. They all quieted and stopped what they were doing.

“August? Is that you?” Liam asked.

“Well, I certainly hope so. I don’t know who else it could possibly be, you know?” August responded.

“No way. We searched everywhere for you two! Where were you guys?” Liam asked.

August shrugged, “I don’t know. I nearly got them, but they got away somehow. I was knocked out by a huge burst of magic.”

“And Alex?”

“He was already knocked out,” August told him. August tsked, “I could’ve gotten him. If only-” August needed to convince them that he had tried, that for some unforeseen reason, this man was more powerful than an S-Rank. That August had truly tried, but that the man had gotten away from him.

Luckily, no one doubted him. Why would they? After all, he was just a normal student. Nothing to hide.

“August? Are you feeling fine?” a teacher asked. He didn’t know who they were, but he was fairly certain it was a special elective teacher. Perhaps she was the Life Magic teacher?

“Oh, yes. I’m feeling fine. I just wanted to know if Alex will be alright? He’s been knocked out for quite a while, and I’m just worried.”

“Alex Sol? Well, he’s been hit with a powerful sleeping spell, and his mana has been bound… so his chances aren’t very good. I’d be surprised if he woke up-”

And Aelfdene woke up.

Blinking his eyes wearily, he peered up at August. “August? What happened?” he questioned, worriedly.

“Oh, nothing much. You were just kidnapped.”

“Huh. I guess I should’ve been more wary of the masked person who was following me around everywhere I went,” Aelfdene sighed.

“...you think?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Alex, for  _ Aelfdene’s _ sake, use your mind for once! It’s almost as if you don’t have one, with the way you act,” August shook his head, resisting the urge to face palm. How could an immortal be so dense?

“...sorry.”

August took note of the teacher’s shocked expression, “is something wrong?”

“A-ah, yes. I did not expect Alex to wake up… erm, so soon. You see, as I told you before, his mana was bound, which means that technically, he shouldn’t have been able to wake up.”

“How does that work?” August asked, confused.

“Ah, well the widely accepted theory is that a mage’s mana is bound to their life force. So while ‘magical exhaustion’ is a thing, almost no mage actually goes through their entire mana force. Because while you need mana to survive, it does not give us immortality. Only the benefit of a longer lifespan. Of course, in life or death situations, they can go through their entire mana if the user does so wish too, and will sacrifice their life for the others.”

“Then, if someone’s mana is bound, how do they live?” August questioned.

“Well, that’s what they’re trying to find out. After all, some people can die from having their mana bound, but that’s only in older people. It’s probably because mana gives people a longer life span, and if those people are in the ages of that life span, then without mana supporting them, they’d die,” the teacher responded.

“Huh. That’s interesting,” August commented.

“Of course, that’s just a theory. Who knows if I’m right.”

“But that still doesn’t explain how Alex shouldn’t have been able to wake up,” August told her.

She looked away, and he narrowed his eyes. “W-well,” she stuttered out, “you see, the… repercussions… of getting your mana bound often ends in an… erm, unpleasant backlash.”

“A lot of pain, then?” 

She nodded.

Aelfdene broke in, “well, I guess I’m lucky because I feel just fine. No need to worry about me.”

The teacher nodded, then stilled, as if remembering something. “Alex, I’m so sorry that you got caught up in this mess. If you would like, we can compensate-”

He shook his head, “no, I’m fine.”

August sighed internally. Aelfdene needed to learn to take what he could. Getting a gift from the school would be valuable, considering its reputation. August would have to step in.

“I’m sure Alex just doesn’t want to cause you any trouble, but I feel as though he isn’t in his right mind yet. Have we checked for any injuries? Perhaps the sleeping spell had done something to him? I’m sure that if he was in his right mind, he would be ecstatic as to receive something from the school,” August fretted like an overprotective friend, though he smirked on the inside, seeing the worried look the teacher had adopted.

“Of course, we can get your friend something,” she looked at August, “I am sorry on behalf of this school for you getting into this whole mess.”

  
“Oh, it’s nothing. It is my fault, after all. I just wanted to save my friend,” August smiled pleasantly, and this time he didn’t even have to fake it. Everything was going as planned, after all.


	16. Chapter 14

Aelfdene didn’t know how long it took to convince the nurses that he was  _ alright _ . He was not going insane, but it seemed as though they had been completely convinced by August that he wasn’t fine.

“For the last time, yes, I’m sure I’m fine. I do not feel any semblance of pain or whatnot. I just want to go back to my dorm and sleep.” Aelfdene huffed. He glanced at August. What was he even planning, with something like that? It’s not as if the school had anything Aelfdene would want. Riches? Already had them. Fame? Aelfdene didn’t even want fame in the first place.

“Are you sure?” August broke in, “I wouldn’t want-”

“Just shut up, August,” Aelfdene glared at him. “I’m perfectly fine. There’s no need to worry. The worst thing that happened was me missing out on this nice Saturday day. Nothing more.”

The nurses nodded, “I suppose,” one nurse told him, “if you’re absolutely sure you’re feeling fine, then you can get going with your friend.”

Aelfdene nodded, getting up. “Come on, August. Let’s get going.”

“Alright,” August responded.

Aelfdene walked into the hallway, August closely following behind. “Now why did you do that?” Aelfdene asked, still walking to who knows where.

“It was an opportunity, Alex. To get something from the school as compensation. You should know by now to accept the gifts that are given to you.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because the school is powerful, Alex. You may not know it yet, but they have things that you want. And I know that. Whatever they give you, it’ll be good. Because you were  _ harmed-” _

“When was I harmed?” Aelfdene questioned.

“...alright, you were harmed mentally,” August shot a glare at him before he could interrupt, “now, even if you hadn’t been harmed, it still would’ve been a huge deal. Because you were kidnapped. That was a blow to their reputation. After all, how can they be a great school and let their students get kidnapped, of all things? They’re obviously going to try to hush this up, and will probably be willing to give out something special to get you to keep this quiet.”

  
  


“You… really thought into this, August,” Aelfdene commented.

“I always do, Alex. You should expect this, by now. I plan, and you just… do your thing.”

“And what’s my ‘thing’ that you’ve just mentioned?”

August shrugged, “I don't know. Bait?”

“Excuse me?” Aelfdene asked.

“You’re doing a great job of it now, aren’t you?”

“...I’m going to murder you, August.”

“Oh no, you wouldn’t. Because murder is illegal and bad. And because you couldn’t possibly do something like that, you wouldn’t! Also, witnesses,” August teased.

“Witnesses?”

“Yeah, witnesses.”

“Where, exactly?” Aelfdene gestured to their surroundings, “there’s no one around.”

“...Alright, I concede. You have made a point. But also, I don’t know, take the fact that I was last seen with you? So you would be instantly put under, I don’t know, suspicion? Also, you would be a horrible murderer.”

“How dare you assume I’d be a bad murderer just because I have a little something called morals.”

August leveled him with an unimpressed glare, “ah yes. Alex, the murderer with morals. Because that would work out so well.”

“Hey! I could be like a murderer who kills other murderers… or something like that. I don’t know, I don’t actively spend my time considering possible situations in which I become a serial killer. Or like, anything close to that. I’d like to solve my problems peacefully.”

“Yay. Everything can be solved with peace. Woooo, go peace,” August deadpanned.

“...you’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

August slow clapped, “fantastic. You figured me out.”

Aelfdene crossed his arms, “wow, that’s mean.”

“I am mean, Alex. I thought you knew that by now, with how long you’ve known me.” 

Aelfdene blinked. “...oookay then,” he looked at August, “so what happened when I was knocked out? I know you’re more powerful than that mage, and unlike me, you aren’t so easily fooled.”

“Oh, you’re admitting that you’re an idiot?” August questioned.

“August, you’re deflecting. I can even see that.”

“You’re downplaying your intelligence. You’re more intelligent than you give yourself credit for, so don’t try to pretend that you’re an idiot. Despite how much I call you that,” August commented.

“Didn’t you just call me an idiot? What’s with this huge personality change?”

“I can acknowledge that you're smart. Perhaps not street smart, but book smart? Yes. You know a lot about magic itself…”

Aelfdene sighed internally. August was deflecting again. He didn’t want to answer the question. Why?

“And while Asher may be the Immortal of Magic, you understand the concept of magic. You understand how to properly use all of the elements-”

“August, for the love of my sanity, shut up.” Aelfdene interrupted.

August snapped his mouth closed.

“I  _ know _ you’re deflecting. Just tell me already, okay?”

August glanced away. “Why do you want to know so badly? I screwed up, okay?”

“What about your whole… How do I put this? Uh, your whole… group. Yeah, group. What happened to your whole group of people? Did you not call for backup or something like that? Why go through all the trouble without more people? I remember from one of our last fights that you have someone who has teleporting powers, so…”

“I screwed up, Alex. I… also underestimated him and the mage. I underestimated their power, and they overpowered me. It was a long battle, and… well, I barely made it. They were sapping my mana.”

“Why didn’t you tell the school that?”

August raised an eyebrow, “yeah, right. They’d want to know how they could be so powerful, and they’d also noticed that I’m able to control both plants and the ground incredibly well. Don’t you think that that'd be suspicious?”

“Oh, you’re right.” Aelfdene felt a faint vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and blinked, “huh. They didn’t even take any of my devices off of me.”

“Can’t your phone be tracked?”

“Yeah,” Aelfdene muttered, reading the message. “I have to go. Ryan wants to talk.”

“See you later, then,” August told him.

“See you!” Aelfdene called back, rushing to where Ryan told him to meet up.

Aelfdene could’ve sworn August had muttered something that sounded like “you’re so easy to fool,” but he that was impossible, wasn’t it? Why wouldn’t he believe August? August wouldn’t say something like that, right?

Aelfdene shook his head. It was fine.

After all, he trusted August.

He felt the warm sunlight spill over his shoulders as he slowed his pace down to a jog, catching his breath. He scanned over the crowd, trying to find Ryan. Where could he possibly be?

He locked eyes with Ryan, and Aelfdene ran over. “Hey, Ryan!” Aelfdene greeted him.

Ryan looked nervous, “hey, Alex.”

“Is anything wrong?” Aelfdene asked, ignoring the wave of dread that washed upon him.

Ryan looked nervous. “Uh, well um, I- I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah? What’s wrong, Ryan? Are you feeling alright?” 

Ryan trembled, avoiding meeting Aelfdene’s eyes. It seemed as if he really didn’t want to say anything. “Hey, it’s fine. You can tell me what’s wrong.”

“I-I’m sorry, Alex, but,” his voice cracked, “I… don’t think we can be friends anymore.”


	17. Chapter 15

“What do you mean by that?” Aelfdene questioned.

“I- I can’t be friends with you, okay? I just,” Ryan looked away, “I just can’t be friends with you anymore!”

Aelfdene blinked, “you ‘can’t’ be friends with me anymore? Not that you don’t want to be friends anymore, but that you ‘can’t?’ What do you mean by that?”

Ryan trembled, “I just can’t, alright? I just can’t be friends with you any longer!”

“Those don’t sound like your words.”

Ryan stopped, “huh?”

“Those don’t sound like words that you believe in. They sound like words you’re being told to say. It doesn’t sound as if you want to leave my friendship of your own free will, but instead because someone is telling you to. Why?”

“I-”

“Look,” Aelfdene began, interrupting what Ryan was trying to say, “I don’t care how much danger I’ll be in if I continue to be your friend. Trust me, I’ve been in way worse situations before. You don’t need to be so scared, alright?”

Ryan fiddled with his hands, before determinedly shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Alex. I don’t want to be your friend anymore,” he hesitated, “but thank you.”

He walked away, in what might’ve seemed like confidence.

Aelfdene blinked again, before shaking his head. Ryan didn’t want to do this, so why would he try so hard? It wasn’t as if Aelfdene was blind.

He was protecting him from something, but what was it?

“I should probably go find August … ” Aelfdene muttered to himself. August would probably know what was happening. After all, August knew almost everything that was happening, so why wouldn’t he know what was going on with Ryan?

Of course, there was always a possibility, but August … August would know. He might not tell Aelfdene, but he at least knew.

Maybe it had been a few centuries, but August always had the same tells.

It was an unconscious thing, the way August’s gaze would change. It would be nearly impossible to catch unless you knew what you were looking for. When August had been rowdier, Aelfdene had to deal with him often. Sure, what August did was illegal, but …

It wasn’t much different than what he did, was it?

August had killed people, yes. But all of those had been bad people. No one would miss them. They were bad, but not in the way that Aelfdene could deal with them. So August would move in, and they would never be heard from again.

Everyone knew it was August’s organization, but no one could prove it. That was the genius. Everyone knew, and yet there was no decisive evidence. No real hard proof.

And besides the murder, it was a legitimate company, with actual products and employees.

Aelfdene and August’s relationship was a strange one. It was odd to think that only a few weeks ago, Aelfdene had loathed anything that even dealt with August. And now … it was almost as if they were friends.

Of course August would hide things from him, considering their relationship only a few centuries ago.

No, Aelfdene wasn’t mad.

Maybe he should’ve been. Maybe he should’ve indulged in the feelings that had nearly overtaken him.

But Aelfdene was an immortal. The Judge of Immortals. He could not allow himself to feel that irrational when needing to discuss something with August.

After all, Aelfdene was just the same. Had he gotten upset, he’d be nothing better than a hypocrite. They both had their secrets, and so Aelfdene understood that August was going through. More or less. Of course. He would never claim that he truly understood someone, not even about himself.

But Aelfdene trusted him.

Despite everything, Aelfdene would always hold trust in him. 

Aelfdene held blind trust in him. He knew August would lie. Sure, sometimes he would like to pretend that August was telling him the entire truth, that he had no ulterior motives than to help him, but Aelfdene knew better. Aelfdene knew the truth. He knew better than to trust the tales of someone who could lie so well.

And yet he still trusted him.

Why?

Was it because Aelfdene was afraid of what August would do? No, he knew that August would never tell anyone of his true identity. It wouldn’t mask sense, after all.

Maybe…

August had changed, but so had Aelfdene. They both had changed.

Gone was the near-emotionless, apathetic man he used to be. Now… Aelfdene didn’t really know what he was anymore.

The Judge? An immortal? … A legend?

When had Aelfdene stopped being himself, and instead became a legend?

Aelfdene laughed bitterly, running his hand through his hair, “gosh, it’s way too late for an existential crisis.”

He noticed a few strange looks, and so he did the normal thing: he waved and smiled awkwardly, mask falling into place instantaneously.

He had played this game for so long, and he wasn’t going to let just one wave of emotion take him down. Perhaps, one day, he might just confide in someone. Tell them everything. One day, Aelfdene supposed, where he would allow himself to become weak.

Just not this day, nor the next.

Sure, Aelfdene may have gone into hiding, but that didn’t mean much, did it? He just wallowed in self-pity, before putting on a careful mask of carefreeness.

Aelfdene shuddered.

He had believed that mask a bit too much.

Aelfdene didn’t exactly know when he stopped believing in that mask, either.

Perhaps he never had stopped. He shrugged to himself. He knew he wasn’t a very reliable person, either.

People who trusted him were always let down.

He continued walking, not sure where he was going. He just kept wandering around, not paying attention to where he was going until he bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry,” Aelfdene apologized after bumping into them.

The teen he had bumped into scowled at him angrily, “ugh, another annoying C-Rank. Do you need something, or are you just going to continue on?”

“ … I think I’ll just get going,” Aelfdene responded, stepping away. His arm was quickly grabbed.

“Look, I don’t think you’re sorry enough. Apparently, you were too important to pay attention to where you were going,” he scoffed, “typical C-Rank.”

“I apologized. What more could you possibly want?” Aelfdene twisted his arm, attempting to get out of the grip on his arm. 

“What more could I possibly want? Are you kidding me?” the boy snarled. “I’ll let you know that-”

“I just wasn’t paying attention. You are making it sound as if I had something against you, which I don’t. Could you please stop assuming things?”

“Could I- ugh, you’re just like them. I can’t believe-”

“What are you doing?” a new voice broke in. Aelfdene blinked, recognizing the voice. Who was it again? Aelfdene craned his neck to take a look, spotting blond hair.

“None of your business,” the boy huffed, annoyed.

“Oh? It seems like you’re threatening someone, which means it is my business,” the blonde crossed his arms.

“He’s just an overconfident C-Rank,” the boy grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure he apologized,” the boy smiled, and a wave of dread washed over Aelfdene, “so why don’t you just get a move on, Eric? I’m sure you don’t want to cause any trouble, right? ** It would be a shame if something were to happen** .”

Eric blinked, then nodded, “I-I’ll just get going now.” He made off, walking swiftly away.

The teen looked at him, his smile brightening tenfold. He seemed to have flipped a switch, immediately looking more like an optimistic puppy.

Wait- could it possibly be? Was he-

“Hi, you must be Alex Sol! I’m Erell Freyr! It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”

Arell. Arell Freyr, Immortal of Light. One of the people who he wanted to avoid the most, because behind that childish exterior, was  **terrifying** . He, just like Aelfdene, wore a mask. But unlike him, Arell wore a mask to make people underestimate him. He and Rai made a dangerous pair, but Arell on his own?

Arell was a monster.

Aelfdene shuddered.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment below any errors, suggestions, or, well, comments!
> 
> Don't be afraid, I don't bite.


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